Lonny Shattuck has a lot to smile about these days.
That's something new, because the 30-year-old used to have a high-octane passion for alcohol and illicit drugs until a spiritual journey put him on a new path.
It's been a winding road for Shattuck, from Ohio to Tennessee to California — and finally to the Drug Alternative Program (DAP) in San Bernardino.
It hasn't been an easy path, by any means. By the time Shattuck reached 30, he could look back on adolescent years spent in a fog. He used drugs, smoked and drank his way into turmoil and pain for most of his life. With every puff, every drink — even jail time, and a family torn apart by divorce — underscored the depth of his substance abuse.
"Drugs, marijuana, medications, alcohol — any drugs I could get my hands on, he says. "I didn't discriminate...as a drug addict, I had power with words. I conned anyone to get what I wanted to buy drugs."
Shattuck lived in Tennessee with his parents until they divorced when he was five. After the divorce his mom moved to Maryland, then later to Ohio, after she remarried.
"My mom and step-dad were heavy smokers and drinkers, so there was always alcohol in the house," he says.
His drug and alcohol started with a sleep over weekend at a friends' house.
"My friend and I drank and smoked all weekend until we were sick," he recalls.
Their parents had no knowledge that of what the youngsters had done, and Shattuck was on his way down that long, hard path — with the help of another adult.
"Alcohol and drugs were being supplied by an older man that I met through a friend at school," Shattuck said. "This older man supplied all my needs. After my mom divorced my step-dad, she moved back to Tennessee. I convinced my mom to let me stay in Ohio with this older man and she agreed."
Shattuck got deeper in drugs and alcohol. He quit school, was convicted in multiple cases of driving under the influence (DUI), did time in jail. On top of all that, he says, the older man who provided him with drugs also abused him sexually — although he says he never told him parents.
After seven years, at the age of 21, Shattuck moved back to Tennessee, back with his mom.
"I decided that I wanted a change," he says.
Not everything changed, though. He kept using drugs and alcohol, and one night ended up in a verbal and physical altercation with his mother.
That's when Shattuck's grandmother stepped into the situation. She had heard about the DAP program in California through a faith-based TV program, 3ABN.
For the past 21 years, Drug Alternative Program (DAP) has served people from all over the country. DAP is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1987 by Cliff and Freddie Harris. The organization provides faith-based, drug-free recovery and transition homes for male adults, ages 18 to 64.
The program promotes recovery by teaching clients how to live positive and productive lives on a daily basis, immersing clients in a structured routine that includes a daily work program, daily house chores, exercise, healthy eating and individual and group counseling. Freddie Harris says the program has a 65% recovery success rate.
The Harris' mission to help people overcome their drug dependencies was born out of Cliff's experiences. He's a third-generation Seventh Day Adventist who says he "drifted away from Christ" and spent 20 years on drugs, with stints in prison. While serving his second of two prison sentences, he remembered the way life had been in his parents' home.
"I made up my mind that as soon as I got out of prison, I would go to church," he said.
Cliff was released on parole in 1985 and made his way back to church in the Denver area, where he met Freddie. They got married and moved to California.
Financing for DAP comes from individual and corporate donors who complement funds earned through a commercial lawn service the program operates.
All of that sounded good to Shattuck in the wake of his blow-up in Tennessee.
"I was 30 and knew that I would die or go to jail for the rest of my life, so I agreed to enter the drug alternative program," says Shattuck, who was on his way to California within days after the altercation with his mother.
The program lasted 12 months, and Shattuck lived in a recovery home with other addicts.
"I learned discipline, the steps to maintain a relationship with Christ, healthy living without drugs, and the steps to hard work and keeping a job," he says. "Before DAP, I never knew what life was like without the 'fog'."
Shattuck met and married a fellow church-goer in 2002, after graduation from the DAP program.
The marriage ended in a divorce in 2005, but not before his wife conceived a son. Shattuck stayed clean for a few years, but later relapsed and ended up living on the streets of San Bernardino for a year. He said the stress of marriage, divorce and abuse of pain medication prescribed for a back injury contributed to his relapse.
Shattuck is back in the DAP program, and he says he now understands that he might be able to remain in recovery but he'll never be "cured." He says he knows maintaining a life of recovery will require a lifetime devotion to stay on track.
The Drug Alternative Program is currently launching an initiative for teens and young adults. The focus will be on drug education and prevention support services for young people. There will be an official debut of the program on February 28, 2009 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
Shattuck say that he looks forward to playing a role in the new program for youngsters.
"I know there is a God because someone was keeping me alive all those years," he says, adding that he wants to give back to program and is committed to helping others fight their drug addiction.
For more information about the Drug Alternative Program, visit www.drugalternativeprogram.com.
Sheannette Virtue is a writer for Carib Press.
Lonny, Hang in there!!!
I would like to hear from you, Michelle