When I asked the question, everyone in the large, packed out room raised their hand in response.

“How many of you have been affected by addiction?”

Whether it’s through a loved one, a friend, of even the darkest parts of your own journey, we’ve all felt the wake of addiction in our life. If you know my story, you know it’s part of the heart behind this ministry.

I recently had the honor of being a panel speaker at a Chester event Let’s Talk About It hosted by Carol Kazeem, an upcoming nominee for State Representative for the 159th District. I first met Carol in early 2020 while doing a community clean-up only to discover she lives on our block and is heavily invested in community change. She’s a person who doesn’t talk about making a difference, she just does it.

The event focus was to inspire change through topical discussions in a setting that brought together youth and community leaders. The main topics: gun violence, juvenile re-entry, mental health, cyber bullying, youth engagement and empowerment, and substance abuse. Greenhouse Project was asked to represent the community on a panel for substance abuse.

It was like being in a room of the most influential people in Chester. From the food to the networking, Let’s Talk About It was awesome.

To be at this type of event was to experience a moment of cultural shift. Like a healing of sorts. Only recently have people begun to openly share their struggles. One man said growing up he wasn’t allowed to talk about hard issues outside his house, and that was the norm. The overwhelming takeaway from the night was that NOW IS THE TIME to talk about mental health, emotions, and hard truths about navigating life in Chester.

I shared in the discussion that substance abuse connects back to trauma, and trauma is commonplace in urban areas like Chester. When asked about one thing we can do to help, I said this: “Make abusing drugs and alcohol not cool.”

It’s glamorized in all the movies, videos and music. It’s engrained into us during childhood, even.
Celebrity culture looks like one big party. I wonder what growth would happen if we make inner healing and mental health cool in our city. Make raising up the next generation of leaders cool. Glamorize hard work, values and living sober-minded.

I understand everyone is watching me. My neighbors, my wife, my children. More is caught than taught in our circles of influence. Our tendency is to emulate the cool kids in a community. We gravitate to what’s popular. If we want the outcomes in our city to improve, we need to be the change and model it for the younger generation.

We live in the community we serve among drug dealers, addicts who are high, and people in recovery. Every time we go outside or talk with neighbors, we model a new standard.

I'm stand firm on the truth that God loves to redeem and save sinful, broken people who know they cannot save themselves. God changed me from a hardcore junkie and criminal into someone who wants to help others live in that same reality.

Greenhouse Project is doubling down on our recovery efforts with in-person recovery meetings, a Resource Guide and recovery materials, free recovery coaching and counseling, consulting for businesses and local churches, and a recovery discipleship internship coming soon.