Recovery, Midnight Mission, Isaac Clay performance

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A Butterfly by Willis and Shante, who will be performing at the upcoming Arts Walk this Thursday, February the 9th, 2012, at the Exchange, located at 114 West 5th Street, downtown Los Angeles. Welcome to the Coon Round Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson, and I'm in the studio with my two co-hosts, Earlene Anthony and Tyrone Robinson. This week we will be talking about the concept of recovery with Danny Harris and Brandon Beckman of the Midnight Mission, a conversation with artist David Askew about his work, and also an in-studio interview and performance by singer, actor, and playwright, Mr. Isaac Clay. Danny, Brandon, David, and Isaac, welcome to the Coon Round Report. Thank you, Melvin. Thank you. Now, before we get into an in-depth discussion of the concept of recovery, Danny, I would like to start with you. Can you tell us a little about your background and how you went through the Midnight Mission program and now works there? My background is not unlike many people who go through the mission. I became addicted. I was addicted to cocaine in 1988. At the time that I became addicted, I was an Olympic athlete in track and field. From that point on, I started about a 20-year odyssey. After about 10 programs, I was living in a sober living in Englewood, and I got high again after about 10 months of sobriety. The only thing that was different was I went back to the house, and I talked to the house manager, told him what I had done, and he suggested that I go to the mission. He happened to work at the mission at the time, and he took me to work with him the next day, and I ended up at the Midnight Mission in early 2007. And from that point forward, I've been free of cocaine. I found something at the mission that was different in a lot of different ways, and it allowed me to take the time necessary. I've been able to work through some of the issues that I had, along with the programs that they provided, and the good people there haven't had to look back. Thank you, Danny. How about you, Brandon? Can you tell us a little about your background, and how did you end up being the director of program services at the Midnight Mission? Well, first of all, thank you for having us here. My story's a little different in terms of joining the mission. I have worked collaboratively with the Midnight Mission. I've been working in this field for about 11 years. And so I've known quite a few people from there and worked with Larry Adamson on a collaborative level in the Skid Row area for probably six or seven years. And last year, I had reached out to him to find out how everything was going there with the programs and things, and he gave me an opportunity. He said, you know, we're looking for somebody to run our programs, and create some change. And so after a few interviews and meeting with some members of the board of directors, I accepted an offer there and was pleased to join there. Because I know some people over there, actually, that work with recovering addicts in the treatment program, and I've always respected Larry and the work that he's done over the years. And it seemed like a good fit. There's a pretty strong business there. There's a tremendous intelligence behind what they do there, and they match that with a very innovative treatment program for the addicts out there. So that's how I came on board. And I'm relatively newer there, but like I said, I've known quite a few people over the years from there, and I appreciate what they do, and I'm glad to be part of it. Okay, at this time, I'd like to talk about the change in faces of Skid Row, going from the 1970s where we are now. I was looking at something on the website, Midnight Mission website, by Mr. Clancy, who is the managing director of the Midnight Mission for the past 38 years, and he was talking about the stages in the development of present-day Skid Row. And he said the first stage was when he first made it there, Skid Row was made up mainly of primary older, drunk white men, as he called it, probably about 10% African Americans. And then you had a judge named Joan Dempsey-Kline who tried to enforce a policy that you could not arrest these drunks but put them in rehab. And because you didn't have that many rehabs around, they ended up on the streets and in the alleys of Skid Row. And then the gangs started coming down at the time that these so-called drunks or whatever would get their SSI checks, robbing and taking their money, and this started the gang element in Skid Row. And then more and more the gang element came down to Skid Row, and the drug crowd followed with a lot of the new drugs like crack. And then it went from being the old white drunks to young black crack addicts. Can you comment a little on that, either one of you, about the situation of how that development came and the challenge of recovery and relationships? Well, I just want to balance that out some before Brandon goes. I just wanted to say that on any given night there are about 51,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County, and about 42% of those are women and children. Those are the numbers that we have. I'll let Brandon speak to the article that Clancy wrote. Well, I think there's still, you know, the addiction to alcohol is still prevalent. Clancy's been around for so long, he's had the fortune of seeing these shifts and these dynamics happen on the street. The drugs of choice will continue to evolve. I think in another 10 or 15 years we're going to see even newer drugs come out, especially a lot of the synthetic opiates and now synthetic marijuana. I think it's always evolving as a chemistry, quite honestly. Many addicts are poly drug abusers now. It's not just an alcoholic or just a crackhead. A lot of people are hooked on a lot of things. Addiction is addiction, and I don't know what the percentages are with addiction to alcohol, but I can say that with a fair amount of certainty that alcohol is still a problem, just like any other drug down there. And the drugs of choice will shift and change. A lot of times you'll see five or six months of mostly heroin coming in, and that'll kind of ebb and flow, and then cocaine will come back. So it's constantly changing, and I think what we do with our treatment program is we're ready for it and we respond to the changes. But addiction is addiction, so we don't really feel challenged by what the drug of choice is. It's just paying attention to it and knowing that it's always going to change. Mm-hmm. And we respond to it. Mm-hmm. Now, before I get into the mission statement, what do you think is the key element in recovery? For me, I work 12-step still. I've got almost 12 years of sobriety. And for me, it's pretty simple. I made it right with God, and I made it right with myself, and I made it right with other people by way of the 12 steps. And by creating, by working those steps and kind of cleaning the slate, so to speak, and keeping an open mind so I could, you know, always learn on how to not just stay stopped, but really explore what the journey is all about. And that includes looking at how other people did it and how other people do it and then choosing what I'd like. And as long as it's right with God and other people and myself, I'm good to go. Mm-hmm. So for me, a lot of the healing was making a spiritual reconnection and looking at how I was emotionally and also improving, you know, some physical parts, you know, getting active again and being in life. Because as far as I'm concerned, I mean, we're all alive, but are we really in life? And I prefer to be in life. And if I were to go back and drink and use, I'd be on the bookshelf again. Mm-hmm. I wouldn't be a participant in life. And I'm just not going to be there. And I'm just not willing to give that up anymore. Okay. What about you, Dan? What do you think key elements in recovery? Well, for me, you know, I'd have to say, you know, getting a sponsor and going through the steps. The 12 steps of recovery. And I got sober out of the Alcoholics Anonymous book. I didn't have a Cocaine Anonymous book. I used the same principles that the founders of AA used back in the middle 30s when the book was published. I got a sponsor who took me through steps one through five. That required some reading, a lot of writing, some honesty, some gut level honesty, getting rid of some things that I said I would never tell anyone. And by doing that, I was afforded some freedom, you know, from the bondage of self and from the bondage of those old secrets and those old wounds that weren't allowed to heal. You know, I think every addict goes through this. Every addict goes through this thing where the selfishness and the self-centeredness of being an addict. When you put aside your family and you put aside your kids and you put aside your responsibilities in lieu of a drug, there's a lot of self-damage that goes along with that. And I think for me, digging myself out of that hole just to get my self-esteem well enough where I felt as though I deserved something good again, that was a major step. But to answer your question directly, the 12 steps has worked for millions of alcoholics. It worked for me. I think that any addict or alcoholic who gives himself to the program with someone who's properly armed with some facts about himself and able to disseminate the information that's in the book, I think that everyone can get sober. I really believe that because if an addict like myself can come back after 20 years and pick up his bed and walk again, I have to believe that it can work for others as well. Yeah, because we're dealing with one of our close friends that we were just talking about a little while ago who's dealing with the alcohol problems. She just relapsed over the weekend. And we're trying to figure out what to do in terms of whether she should be in some kind of program or stay out. I hear a lot about unless that person is ready to make that change themselves, that it's just a repetitive process in relationship to recovery. What do you think? Can you comment on that in terms of that person taking that first step? Well, it's real challenging for any family to deal with a loved one that just relapsed. Unfortunately, with the nature of the disease of addiction, it's real hard to find that very small window of opportunity where the addict that just relapsed has just a little bit of clarity. And you can find that window and reach them. It's extremely difficult. Sometimes it happens. A lot of times addicts will go into the full-blown relapse again because there is a difference between a lapse in their recovery and a full-blown relapse. And what we focus on in our treatment program is basically people will slip and have that lapse. But if we can teach them the self-efficacy skills to pick themselves up quicker, they won't go back to that full-blown uncontrollable using again. And to answer your question... Can you elaborate on that a little? It means that a lot of places have relapse prevention awareness and education groups. And it's really geared toward identifying the fact, well, I took a hit or I had a drink. And I could go back to this full-blown relapse, but what are some other choices? And the choices rapidly deteriorate over time. So that's why it's important for people to be available for the loved one and get other professionals involved so that we can kind of pick them up, help them get up again and not go down that road because it will just end. We know how it ends. Yeah. And I would add to that for myself, I went to treatment for the first time at Charter Hospital in Mission Viejo in 1988. From that time until the time I got to the Mission, I've been to no less than ten programs. And they say sometimes that relapse doesn't have to be a part of your recovery, but for me it was. And I have to say that every program that I went to, I took a little something from those programs. And to Brandon's point, the last time that I got high, it wasn't a full-blown relapse. It was a one-time occurrence in which I went and told on myself based on the information that I had acquired through all those other programs that I knew that there was a solution. I just hadn't been able to fully get it. I had ten months at that time. I had the slip. I raised my hand and said, hey, I need some help. And just by the grace of a higher power, I'll use that word, the person who happened to be my house manager worked at the Midnight Mission, and that's how I ended up there. So I said all that to say that every one of the treatment programs I went through, I took a little something from those programs, and that, I believe, was the mortar in which I used to build my recovery, because it all mattered. One other thing, too, I just want to quickly mention is a lot of addicts, when they have this lapse, they seem to have this. They seem to have this overwhelming sense of guilt that they made this mistake. They call it a violation effect. They've just committed this huge thing, and the guilt becomes overwhelming. And so that generally complicates their decision-making, and that's why it's important to get to them very quickly and help them get back up, because the emotional flooding that happens can definitely, you know, make them feel like they're not doing the right thing. And so I think that's a really important thing to do. And I think that's one of the things that we need to do to prevent them from getting help in time. Yeah, and this is what I want to ask you, because it's interesting. Over the weekend, the great baseball player, superstar Josh Hamilton, who was dealing with alcohol relapse, what kind of advice would you give a person like that, the sound in the spotlight, trying to deal with that? He apologized and all like that. I would. I would invite him to explore 12-step. And, you know, there's no magic bullet for it. There's not one thing that we can tell somebody. This is about lifelong change. It's about identifying and clarifying and expressing what it is about us that puts us in that position where we're self-medicating or numbing because we don't want to feel. There are probably, there's an assortment of things going on when it comes to that. When it comes down to addiction, we have to remember that, you know, this disease is a pleasure reinforced brain disease. So the intervention and the actual treatment for it has to be geared toward that. So there's not one thing we can say, but to get his foot in the door and get some help, I would say get into a meeting. You know, everybody in these 12-step meetings, they reach their hand out. And that's actually what I needed when I got sober in 2000. I got sober at another facility up in the state. I got sober at another facility up in the San Fernando Valley. And the one thing that kept me there initially was the fact that they reached their hand out and said welcome because I didn't know anything about treatment. I didn't know if I left that they were going to call the cops on me. I didn't know anything. I was really, I didn't have a clue. But for them to reach their hand out and say welcome, that helped me stay. And that's what the 12-step programs are all about, including the one at the mission. I mean, we welcome people. And if we can step into that fear, just step into that fear. Just for a second. And be greeted by people that care and the people that know what it's like, he'd have his foot in the door. Is addiction a lifelong process? A challenge to an addict? Well, that's a good question. A lot of people ask that. There is debate about that, but I will say that during the years that you gather in sobriety and look at it more like a journey, for me, you know, in the beginning, it was really just not using. I just couldn't use and that's it and that's all I needed to know and get used to working the 12 steps. What it became over the years is creating enough distance between that old lifestyle, which I was also addicted to, creating enough distance between that lifestyle and what I was experiencing now in this new phase of life. Am I always going to be a recovering addict? I personally say yes, but for me, it's not about not using anymore. It's about continuing to grow and experience a great life because I found my sober self, my unique self to some degree and I continue to learn and that's the, that's what I focus on in my journey, but everyone's different. You know, that's just my story. Everyone's different, but it's, you know, we walk and help each other and, you know, it's a fellowship. Okay. Let's talk a little about the mission statements of the Midnight Mission. I would like to go into that and briefly discuss each as it relates to the program. That you have now that reflects that. The first one is to offer a bridge to self-sufficiency for homeless people through counseling, education, training, and job placement. Can you talk about the programs that reflect that at the Midnight Mission? Absolutely. You know, again, we're a 12-step social model program. It's peer-driven and I think, you know, professionally, I think that's one of the best models around. You know, I think that's one of the best models around. You know, when a client comes in and we do an assessment and we start treatment planning, there are certain key areas that we look at. One is obviously the addiction, the problems associated with that, the lifestyle disorders and things like that. And then we start developing goals and plans to deal with the addiction, family problems, educational deficits, employment issues, psychological issues, and legal issues and medical issues. Those are the primary areas that we focus in when we do treatment planning. So quite naturally, we've gathered resources and used resources to help our clients in all those different areas. So it is quite a process, actually. It doesn't happen in one month. Every client is different, but we address that over time. That's why we're talking about the length. The length of a typical program, six months to me would be bare minimum. You know, six months to 24 months is definitely key. It's critical that somebody stays in a treatment program for that long. At least six months. At least six months. That's just, you know, I would say 18 to 24 months is ideal because of the damage that's done. And what happens is an addict, say at around six months, he starts feeling good and feeling, you know, like, I'm starting to like this. But I still have these things in my life that I can't manage or I still have to manage. I've got, you know, I'm not really educated. I don't have that many job skills. And so the reality starts setting in. I need to start doing some things. And that's what we help them with in all those different areas. We help them with getting back together with their family over time, parenting if they've got children, definitely some self-esteem work. And other life skills so that they can start managing their life. Because people that walk into 12-step, including myself, I mean, step one is we're powerless over alcohol and drugs. And the second part is our lives have become unmanageable. And I usually focus on that area because a lot of people can say, well, I'm powerless. But what about the unmanageability? We have to bring everything back into something that's manageable. That means we have to learn, go back to school at some point. We have to build our skill set. So we can become employed gainfully and squash all of our legal problems at some point and take care of our medical issues. And then finally, tell our family, I'm on the road to healing. And I hope you welcome me back. So there's a lot of repair to be done, quite honestly. And that takes time. Okay. The next thing is to make available the necessities of life. To homeless people, food, shelter, clothing, personal hygiene needs, and medical care. I know Dr. Abraham Maslow, he used to talk about the hierarchy of needs concept, how important that is. Can you talk about your thoughts in relationship to providing this for a homeless person before you can offer them the other aspect of the recovery process? Yes. I think those are definitely first. You know, food, shelter, clothing, those are definitely first. I mean, we started a wonderful program last year for our courtyard people. What we started to do is case manage some of the people in our courtyard who are chronically homeless. And basically what that means is we started engaging them a little bit differently. And what we found is that more people than once, they were more likely to be homeless. And more people than not were interested. At that point, a certain rapport had developed with the case manager. And it was easier for us to get them into some kind of treatment program or hook them up with other supportive services, even housing. So it was that engagement piece that helped change things in a very institutionalized population in terms of thinking and living. But let's say we just can't get through. We still provide the 3,000 meals a day. We still offer them clothing. You know, everything that's basic. I mean, anybody that's trained in this field knows about the hierarchy of needs. And of course, it makes sense. We pay attention to that. And that's where it starts. You know, we do fulfill those needs and hopefully get people into even more extensive services so that they can become. Self-sufficient at some point. So you serve 3,000 meals a day. Approximately, yes. Okay. Next is to offer the 12-step approach to recovery. This is what I want to talk about for a while. Because I hear a lot of discussion about whether or not, I think we mentioned a little earlier, whether or not concepts that was developed for alcoholics can be used. And I think that's a very important part of the process. And I think that's a very important part of the process. And I think that's a very important part of the process. Absolutely. Yeah. I want to turn it over to Danny here for a second. I just wanted to preface this by saying addiction is addiction. And whatever the drug or behavior is that has this payoff, this pleasure reinforcement, a lot of the treatment is going to be very similar. Yeah. And I wanted to just say that, you know, for me, I was never a big drinker. A cocaine addict for sure. The marijuana smoker. The big book of Alcoholics Anonymous worked for me. And when I read The Doctor's Opinion or Who's an Alcoholic? More about alcoholism. If I took out alcohol and put cocaine into those passages, those gentlemen who penned that book were talking to me about me. All of the shortfalls I had in my life, the thinking, the action, the wanting to stop and being unable to, all the things that go along with that, the lying, the cheating, the stealing, anything in order to get that drink or in my case, that drug. And when I was honest enough with myself to let my guard down and accept what was in those pages and related to my life, I could see. I could see myself in those pages. And to me, it doesn't matter if you suffer from alcoholism or drug addiction. For me, the 12-step approach worked. I believe it's worked for millions of people. And I would say again that I believe that anyone who lends, who gives themselves to the program in the hands of a capable sponsor who's able to take them through the work and who's armed about some facts about himself and that can tell you, you know, what phase of recovery you're in just by the way you're talking or how you're acting. It's the truth. It's been my truth. And I would say that anyone can get sober through that approach. Now, some people get sober through the church. Other people just go cold turkey. I tried them both and nothing worked for me until I got again with a sponsor who took me through the steps. Excuse me. Let me ask this about the sponsor concept. I know the sponsor concept in relationship to alcohol was when an alcoholic felt that he wanted to use, he would get on the phone and call his sponsor to talk to him, which was a process that dealt with the element of time. Now, does the same kind of process work for when a person is dealing with cocaine? Is that time element still important? That didn't work for me. You know, anytime. You know. You start talking about a man or a person, he can fail you. If I'm about to use some cocaine and I call my sponsor and my sponsors, I get his voicemail. What do you do? You know, my disease never would allow me to sit there and wait till he answered the phone. What my sponsor did for me is he introduced me to the program, which allowed me to get in contact with a power greater than myself. And that is going through the steps. And by doing that, I can take a moment. And try to contact or reach that power greater than myself, which I happen to call God and be able to have that be my buffer. When I don't have someone there that's physically able to tell me, hey, you know, you don't need to do that or I'll sit down and talk to you. And that spiritual aspect of it for me was huge because, you know, I was so disconnected from everything, you know, from being out there so long that it takes time to build that. And of course, when you're building it, you have to also have those thoughts. And be able to turn to the book or to your technique and be able to have that work for you. And then when it works, you build a little bit of confidence. And then you're able to go forward until you get enough time where your disease is not pulling at you in a way that causes you to be mentally obsessed about going out and finding some drugs and or alcohol. Beautiful. So it's not about the sponsor, the individual, but it's about the process. It's about the process of the steps and working the steps. I think it's a little of both, actually. You know, my sponsors helped me tremendously throughout the years. I mean, I've sat outside 12-step meetings on break wanting to go next door and drink. And thankfully, he was there. But I think that the whole idea behind the sponsorship and going to meetings and calling other people that we trust during those times is really a lesson in impulse control. Because naturally, what we've done over the years is we think and feel and then do a certain thing. And that's usually getting high. Mm-hmm. In recovery, we're going to think differently. We're going to feel differently. And then what do we do? We have to do a different routine. And by calling the sponsor when that impulse hits or those thoughts hit, the triggers and such, it's really about developing a new routine. You know, sometimes when my sponsor wasn't even – I'd call him and I'd get the answering machine and I would think, what do I do? And then what I did was I called my son, who was very young at the time, and just by hearing his voice kind of snapped me out of me. Mm-hmm. For that moment. Enough for me to think differently and walk myself back into that meeting and not go back down that road. Mm-hmm. Significant other. Okay. One more question before we go to the community calendar. We'll be coming back to this discussion. The last mission statement, to provide for the homeless as an independent social service. Can you explain that for us? Well, the Midnight Mission is privately funded, and we don't take money from outside agencies, whether it be state or federal. We have one contract with LASA, which permits us to keep our restrooms open for the people that we serve in our courtyard. Other than that, all of our donations are given philanthropically or through private donation. This allows us to do a couple of different things with respect to how we run our program. It allows us some latitude with respect to how long an individual can stay. Some of the things that we're able to do that we don't have the red tape that will come along with being a federally funded program. So it gives us some freedom. It gives us an opportunity. We really have to work hard, you know, to raise that money through our events that we have every year. And we only have three events a year, which actually we go out and raise funds. For a person like myself who went through the mission and now I'm back in my capacity as assistant to the president, I understand how important every donor is. I understand how important every person who comes to volunteer at the mission. And we have volunteers that come every day and serve some of those 3,000 meals. And some of them are corporate individuals. Some of them are high school people. Some of them are volunteers. Some of them are high school people. Some of them are parents with their kids. It's amazing to see the process that happens at the mission every day for people who have no idea what goes on in order for those things to happen. But yet and still, at 7 a.m., at 12 p.m., and at 4, 30 p.m., there will be a meal served. If you need a shower, there will be a fish kit there for you to take a shower. If we have pampers, we will give those out to ladies who come. If we have men who have kids who need those, we're able to go out into the courtyard and see individuals who might need a change of clothes and ask them if they'd like to get some clothes. If they say yes, we're able to provide that. Our donors are really the lifeblood of the mission. They drive everything that we do and we simply take the resources that we're given, which we believe we're good stewards of the resources that we're given. And we try to, in turn, give that back to the individuals that we serve on a daily basis. Mm-hmm. Okay, thank you, Danny and Brandon. We'll come back after the community calendar to finish our discussion. This is February at the Exchange. This Thursday, February the 9th, will be the Arts Walk. It's going to start at 7 o'clock. And Drama Stage Kwan will be participating in this. We'll have special music. We'll listen to Shante, Victor Allen, Vicki Robinson, Highland Burt, Jerome St. Jerome, and others. We'll also have food available. Sunday, February the 12th at 2 p.m., Drama Stage, along with ICUJP and other organizations, will present a dramatic reading of Reckoning with Torture, Memos and Testimonies from War on Terror. Sunday, February the 19th at 2 p.m., Drama Stage. Drama Stage Kwan will present the movie Skid Row. One-third of the Grammy Award-winning group, the Fugees, prize came down to Skid Row and lived on the streets and did a documentary called Skid Row. Sunday, February the 26th, 2 p.m., Drama Stage Kwan Community Program, also known as DCOC, will distribute hygiene kits and clothing to the committee. Thank you. For more information on these events, you can call 323-850-4436. The exchange is located at 114 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, California. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention early and Anthony. And once again, our call-in number for the show is 800-893-4255. 9562. Now back to our host. Hey, thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. We're back with Danny Harris and Brandon Beckman of the Midnight Mission. Can you take us through the process of guys coming into the program from the street from detox to graduation, the different steps? Well, we make initial contact. They basically knock on our door, so to speak. And. They're met by a case manager who does an initial screening. Some people that need a detox from heroin or alcohol or opiates, I should say, because sometimes there are pills that are being abused that need a detox as well. We determine whether or not they need to be referred to an actual detoxification center. If they don't, then we do an intake on the individual and do a further assessment. To determine whether or not the program is fully appropriate for what they need. In a lot of cases it is. And at that point they're assigned a case manager and a big brother in the program so that the orientation process goes smoothly. You know, the big brother kind of teaches them kind of like the unwritten rules, so to speak. While the case managers as a team help the person understand all the written rules and what's expected. and what's going to happen for the next six months to a year, one day at a time. So it's a team effort, but they are assigned a primary case manager who's also, in most cases, a certified addiction treatment counselor. And at that point, they do some treatment planning, goal setting and things, and they're off on their way. And so the case manager makes sure that they go to groups every day and 12-step meetings. They get a sponsor and get into this new lifestyle, this new routine. So that's pretty much the nutshell of the program. And then after some time after they've been in the program for at least a year, they walk across our stage and get a diploma. And our board of directors, who are extremely supportive of our program, are very supportive of our program. They're very supportive of what we do and very engaged. All participate in this graduation ceremony, along with a lot of our donors and other participants. And it's just a great event. And to watch these gentlemen who have grown, especially emotionally, over the year is incredible. And if I can just back that up by saying that one of the things that I found in going through the mission, if you're on the county when you come into the mission, we take our guys off the county. We talk about that bridge back to self-sufficiency. Part of that is being able to be self-sufficient. That doesn't include taking money from the county. So none of our guys are on the county. Every one of our 174 guys that we currently have in our program have a job in some form or fashion inside the mission. Some of them work in maintenance, some in transportation, some in housekeeping. Some in security. So that gives the guys an opportunity to learn what it feels like again, to actually get up and be responsible. That, along with their treatment plan and their meetings that they're responsible for, every guy works at least four hours a day giving something back. My job when I was at the mission was to give the tours for individuals who came in, whether they be individuals or corporate tours. That, along with our educational element, we partnered with Belmont schools through LAUSD. I'm not sure how long that program is going to last, but right now we have the ability to get our guys tested and to have them start making headway. If they want to get their GED, they can do that. For me, I took advantage of that. Having been tested and found out my math skills were not adequate. As much as I hated it, I had to go to school every day and work out of a math book. But the... I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. At the end of that, when I got done at the mission and I was able to go back to school, the last class that I took, and I just earned my degree from Iowa State University in 2010, the last class that I took was my math class. And I have to say that that seed was planted at the mission. It was fertilized at the mission. And it gave me the confidence to be able to walk back in there as a 43-year-old man and sit in that class and take that math class. That's the last class that I needed to actually get my degree. So the mission does offer that bridge back to self-sufficiency. It teaches us how to be sober. It teaches us how to work. It teaches us how to be responsible. It teaches us how to re-educate ourselves. It teaches us how to be humble. And it teaches us how to pick up our beds and to walk again and be men. Great. Great. And the work therapy positions that Danny mentioned these gentlemen volunteer for during the day really helps create that. It's a great way to get extra structure in their lives in the program so that with the combination of services and these duties, it translates well into unique success for each person. And I think that what makes us a little bit more innovative is just really our combination of services that we offer and our attention to those details. Just a couple more things. Now, how about steps towards permanent housing for the individual? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. with the housing folks down in Skid Row. And so in a lot of cases, there are some waiting lists, and you have to go through this process. But we're pretty effective at placing people when the time's right. Now how about veterans? Do you deal with veterans issues also? Absolutely. And again, we have a strong relationship with the Veterans Administration, which is whether it's in West L.A. or North Hills or right over on Temple Street, we definitely make sure that they're connected to those services because they do have an amazing set of services for the veterans. So we work well with the VA. We're not a veterans program, but we do have veterans in our program, and our linkages pretty much ensure that they're going to get all the resources that they need. I did have some questions from Tyrone and Earlene, but I think we're going to have to move on. I want to have a gift. Give the final comments to Brandon and then Danny. Okay. I'm just pleased to be here. My life has changed dramatically in the 11 1⁄2 years. I remember back in 2000 sitting in a park homeless, and what that one change event was for me was deeply personal, and it was that one thing that happened in my life that helped me change my life for good, actually. And that was watching a lady and her son walk around Balboa Lake. And that morning, I'm convinced that God made sure that those were the only two people that were in my life that day because by seeing them, I reflected on how young my son was, how broken I was, and just everything that happened in that moment got me up, and I made my way over to the place where I got sober. And ever since then, it's just been a great journey. Challenges, struggles, but a lot of miracles. It's just incredible. A lot of watching people succeed and do well and be parents and feel good, that's what I've experienced in my own personal life. And the sense of gratitude for me is what drives my own recovery. Thank you, Brandon. Yeah, and for me, I would just say that, you know, we always... We always need funding. We need financial assistance and in-kind resources and also skill-based volunteers to assist with our increasing case management efforts. In the coming year, to accommodate the rise of number of people coming to the mission for recovery, food, clothing, shelter, education, job training, and other services, I would end with this, that 80% of the donations that we receive goes towards our programs. Only 14% of that. It goes towards our administrative costs. And of course, we serve about 800,000 meals a year. So the need continues to be great. The mission is there. It's been there since 1914. We're coming up on our 100-year anniversary, and we plan to be there until no one needs the services that we provide today. Okay. Thank you, Danny and Brandon. Now, we're going to move to our last section for tonight. It's from our Voices from the Ether portion. Let's listen to the show. If it's Monday night, about 15 minutes to 9, then you're listening to Voices from the Ether. In the background is playing Aquarius from the 1968 musical Broadway hit, Hair. In the ether tonight is singer, songwriter, poet, and actor, Mr. Isaac Clay. He performed in the musical. Also, visiting us on our virtual gallery, we have artist, David Askew, currently a student at the Art Institute. He is a resident at the Midnight Mission and is in the recovery process there. David will be featured as an artist at the Drama Stage Qumran's Shout Out at the Exchange this month at the Art Walk, Thursday, February the 9th, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Welcome to the Ether. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. I played this piece of music tonight because Isaac and I had a recent conversation about the role he had in the musical, Hair, and the fact that you were part of that experience. Isaac, what years were you part of the musical, and where did you perform the play? Well, I'm going to give away my age. It was 19... Let me put it like this. I was the first person out of four. The last person out of four people from Chicago from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from będą from who had strong voices to go to Tokyo, Japan, to do the show, believe it or not, in Japanese. I speak Skoshi Nihongo, which means a little Japanese. And so after everybody had auditioned, got it down to just 25 black gentlemen, about 50 white gentlemen, 50 white ladies, and 50 black girls, and they had us just come in and say, when we call your name, just do something. And everybody else imitate that person. So they called my name, and all of a sudden, I had a flashback when I went into a play once at this Luke Junior College in Chicago, and this guy was doing African dance. And I really wasn't paying attention, but he was so adamant, so into his character. It was so strong. It was demanding you to look at him. And all of a sudden, when they said, when we call your name, just do something, and everybody else imitate that person. And the great... Andre De Shields, who went on to become one of the greatest dancers on Broadway, was next to me, so I couldn't look like a fool in front of Andre, so I had to be dynamic. So when they said Isaac Clay, that guy came in my mind, and I made some sounds and did some African moves, didn't know what I was doing. And everybody imitated me. Then they had us just stand there, and they looked at me, and they said, the gentleman with the glasses on, referring to me, can you go to Tokyo, Japan? That was my first professional break. I should have said, I should have said, of course I go to Tokyo, Japan. I had the nerve to be picky. I said, well, I would prefer performing in Chicago, but yes, I go to Tokyo. So I went to Tokyo, Japan, did the show in Japanese, and that's how I got started. Thank you, Isaac. And also, as I said, we have David with us, Mr. David Askew, and he is a fine artist. How are you tonight, David? I'm pretty good, thank you. Good, good. I understand you're a little under the weather, so we're going to keep our situation here a little short, and we'll see you next time. Thank you. And sweet. Because we're dealing with the concept of recovery this evening, I have an excerpt from my well-worn version of the big book that I'd like to read, because I'm hearing a lot about spirituality tonight. The great fact is just this, and nothing less, that we had to have a deep and effective spiritual experience, which have revolutionized our whole attitude towards life, toward our fellows, and towards God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is, the absolute certainty that our creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous he has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we can never do by ourselves and me personally that's that's what happened um i don't keep myself sober today it's totally up to my higher power to keep me sober and that's where i want to lead our questions to david um what what is your higher how is your higher power working in your life today with your recovery process and um how does your creativity um work along with your recovery well first of all i want to say i give thanks to god who was the head of my life and um god is the most important factor in my recovery today because without him i'm nothing and um i just thank him for where i am today because i i!! 14 months 14 months 14 months can you share briefly something about your experiences with the midnight man where do i start uh it's just been a beautiful thing man uh just like the the first day i walked in i just knew you know that my life was going to change you know because i had got sick and tired of living the way that i was living and you know ever since i've been at been at the midnight mission you know they've they've helped me out tremendously as far as my ego you know building up my mind and you know i've been at the midnight mission you know they've helped me out tremendously you know they've they've helped me out tremendously and just helping me out in all areas of my life man and i appreciate that you know they used to say there used to be a saying that all roads lead to rome um there seems to be a a similar kind of statement all roads lead to skid row eventually what what led you to skid row what led me to skid row uh let me see now well actually i moved out here with my girlfriend okay the plan wasn't to be on skid row you know i just we had got caught up in some fights and things and i just i just i just i just had financial problems and i had started drinking more and more and i turned to the drugs you know trying to sell drugs i found out about downtown so i went down there and it was like a whole another planet down there you know so i started selling drugs and started dibbling and dabbing got caught up with the wrong people and next thing i know you know i was full-blown at it you know just not caring about anything you know just getting high and everything just went down the drain. So that's how it all started. And it ended. One day I just got tired of everything. I was in school. I lost everything, my girlfriend, school. I just got tired, and I walked to the midnight mission. Today I'm a changed man. I thank God for that and the mission. Very good, David. Thank you. And we look forward to seeing your work displayed this Thursday at the Art Walk. Thank you. Thank you. Now, your turn, Isaac. Very briefly, your experiences with your higher power that took you from that old man that was part of that hair experience to where you are today singing, what is it, Heaven Can't Wait No More, your one-man show. Very briefly. Okay, very briefly. You say that to an actor, be very brief. Okay. Well, okay, as far as, like, being clean and sober, you have to be careful when your friends tell you, oh, Isaac, you don't have a problem. You just drink light beer and you just smoke weed because you can get to thinking that, you know, you're different. But this gentleman said something earlier. Addiction is addiction. And almost two years ago I was standing on the corner of Figaro and Adams and there's a guy who sits there on the bench. He just rocks back and forth. He's got a big box with a Bible in it. Never saw me before in his life. He pointed to me and said, God going to bless you, but you got to stop that drinking. That was March the 4th, 2010. I haven't had a drink since. And I haven't done anything else. I've been clean and sober. And thank God, God has helped me, especially along with Melvin Ishmael Johnson, helped me produce my one-man show about four times at Lucy Florence. And Melvin has produced it three times at The Exchange. I hope to do it again in the near future. Now, as far as the song, people who saw my play said, really like your show. One lady in particular said, I really love your show, but it's called Heaven Can't Wait No More. Got to be ebonically correct. Not no more, but no more. And she said, I've kept waiting for a title song. I loved it, but I kept waiting for a title song. And that stayed in my head. So I went home. I wrote this title song. And I'm going to have to sing it Al Capulco, because my parents are going to be there. I'm going to have to sing it. My piano player's not here. I'm kidding. I know it's an a cappella, but I'm trying to be funny up here, OK? This is the song I wrote for the title song. Been patient for a long time Trying to save your soul Gave us the Bible To make heaven our goal Been patient for a long time Since man first sinned Garden of Eden, beginning of the end Been praying for a long time Cause he loves us so Peaceful eternity He wants us to know Been praying for a long time Since the world began Sent his only son To redeem fallen man And the whole world needs to accept his plan Pow! Heaven can't wait no more Don't you know? Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know. Through all the years, tears and fears, second coming of the Lord is almost here. Heaven can't wait no more. I remember when I first heard his name, I knew in my heart this was no game. Jesus, Jesus, ha, oh, it sounded so right. Felt his spirit come into my life. John the Baptist paved the way for a Messiah on that wonderful day. Baptized Jesus, baptized Jesus with great hesitation. But he knew that the cross was his destination. Yes, it was his destination. Heaven can't wait no more. Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know. Heaven can't wait no more. Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know. Through all the years, tears and fears, second coming of the Lord is almost here. Heaven can't wait no more. Through all the years, tears and fears, smiles and frowns, turnarounds, all kind of ups and downs. Heaven can't wait no more. Thank you, Isaac Clay. Video of Heaven Can't Wait No More can be seen on YouTube, the entire show. All you have to do is go to DSQ TV, and that can be found on YouTube. I want to thank David Askew. Thank you. Thank you. And we're going to be looking forward to seeing his artwork on Thursday, so everybody come down to the Art Walk. And I also want to thank my other guest, Mr. Isaac Clay. I finally got something out of him besides Old Man River. And now that ends our visit to the ether this week, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to return the voice command over to our host, Mr. Melvin Ishmael Johnson. I would like to extend a special thanks to our in-studio guests, Mr. Danny Harris and Mr. Brandon Beckman of the Midnight Mission, artist David Askew, and singer, actor, and playwright, Mr. Isaac Clay, my co-hosts, Earlene Anthony and Tyrone Robinson, and a special thanks to Jeremy, Sonia, and the Skid Row Studios. You can check out our past shows of the Coon Run Report on iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, skidrow.la, or www.dramastage-coonrun.org. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Coon Run Report. And I leave you with a song that opened the show, Butterfly by Willis and Shante. Take. Take your time. guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo