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by Lee A. Boone, Positive Directions Equals Change
Over 50 years ago, one dreary Wednesday morning back in January of 1969, as an ambitious young man from a little town in Texas raised by a single mother, I ventured off in search of good fortune and where the streets were paved in gold – a myth I would discover was false all too soon.
With only $500 to my name and all my earthly possessions, I was ready to embark on new opportunities I had planned for my life. I was seeking what so many others before me sought in moving to California: a means out of the South and a path to refuge and opportunity. Brought up in a large family with a strong work ethic and family values, I did a lot of growing and learning on my own, not having a father around.
The Wild West with gunfighters, crime, outlaws and nightclubs is not only depicted in the movies, it was also true to life – at least for me. In Texas, the strongest drug use I had seen was alcohol and weed. However, once I got to California, the good fortune did not just fall into my lap.
I struggled for years until I realized that money and drugs were also considered gold. They were also the fastest way to make it out in the streets of sunny California, until, ultimately, I became my best customer. It was the cocaine and eventually the crack epidemic of the ‘80s that devastated African American families and generations to come. And it had taken a hold of my dreams and captured me too.
I caught a case that put me in the criminal justice system and was facing 10 years in prison or take an offer.
There were several events that transpired over the ‘80s and ‘90s, both negative and positive, that aided my transformational journey. My loving and supportive wife Gwen, my children, the Delancey Street Foundation, being a co-founder of Positive Directions Equals Change and my pastor, the late Rev. Calvin Jones Jr. of Providence Baptist Church, contributed to my recovery.
I caught a case that put me in the criminal justice system and was facing 10 years in prison or take an offer to do two years at The Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco. That decision took very little thought. I chose Delancey Street.
I was the first to graduate from the residential treatment program among the African American men who had become my brothers in recovery. So, when I graduated and went back home to the same neighborhood, I was faced with the same circumstances: drugs, hopelessness and crime.
While I was in the process of recovery, total abstinence from drugs and alcohol was a mandate. So, to keep myself “clean and sober,” I would go back to Delancey Street every day and spend time with Cregg Johnson, who would become one of my best friends and like a brother.
It was there where I received my support from others in similar situations as myself. A group of us that included Cregg Johnson, Cedric Akbar, Ron Thomas, Charles Nicholson and Tony Chase started meeting outside of Delancey Street.
A culturally diverse abstinence-based treatment program was needed in San Francisco.
We would meet weekly at my house to provide additional support to each other, and we would discuss what to do about the lack of support services for people who looked like us. We experienced firsthand the service delivery gap and we did something about it.
A culturally diverse abstinence-based treatment program was needed in San Francisco. And thus, Positive Directions Equals Change was birthed.
My family was also saved by the support and the work we were doing. Instead of running the streets, I was home and, better yet, hanging with positive men who shared a common goal of living a quality life without drugs and alcohol. I’ve been with the love of my life for 49 years, raising a family, giving and getting support along the way.
The friendship, support and common values with Cregg Johnson and Cedric Akbar also led us to create a curriculum called Roads to Recovery. We did support groups at Walden House and in the jails in and around San Francisco teaching recovery.
When we started Positive Directions in 1993, I never dreamed the organization would continue to thrive almost 30 years later. The hard work and effort in sometimes difficult circumstances necessary to establish, maintain and operate Positive Directions lies not only with our leaders, Cregg and Cedric, but countless others who understand the organization’s mission and core values and who remain clean and sober, dedicating their lives to a higher purpose.
Prison ministry
My church family was and is a contributing factor to and in my recovery. I have had the opportunity to travel the country working in prison ministry with Providence Baptist Church in San Francisco, working through the National Baptist Convention. I have visited 38 states and over 100 prisons nationwide, ministering to many and even baptizing a few.
The key principle in prison ministry is to provide salvation to anyone who so desires, regardless of who they are, not to sort sinners from saints. So, I could understand the plight of the devil on one shoulder and God on the other or the diabolical nature of sinning, forgiveness and salvation.
There I was 25 years later, on the freedom side of the bars ministering to others about how their lives could change.
The criminal justice system already imposes jail time, financial restitution or other punishment on those convicted of certain crimes. Withholding the chance to turn your life over to God or one’s higher power is not part of that punishment.
In addition, the ministry provides prisoners with support, encouragement and practical advice to help them stay out of prison after they are released. Over the years, I was able to take leave from my job and, like clockwork, one week in early June and again over Labor Day weekend, I would travel with the prison ministry.
As we ministered in the prisons, I noticed there were not many volunteers who resembled me. So, my presence and efforts to spread the gospel to the disproportionate African American men and women behind bars, who could see and talk with me about redemption and salvation, was huge. Over my years with the ministry, I have baptized approximately 50 prisoners.
The first person I baptized was at a Minnesota prison, an inmate from Texas, who told me as I was about to dip her in the water: “I came to Texas on vacation and left on probation. Lord forgive me of my sins, and I accept you as my Lord and Savior.” When I thought about what she had said, it reminded me of how far I had come.
I remember ministering at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville. On this particular visit, I could feel and remember the thoughts of leaving what I had known in Texas and wanting a better life in California. During my earlier years, I thought folks would be visiting me behind bars, but there I was 25 years later, on the freedom side of the bars ministering to others about how their lives could change.
That work even took me to the White House during a National Baptist convention in Baltimore, Md. A group of us were afforded an opportunity to visit the White House during the Obama administration.
I thought to myself: A little Black boy from a small town in Texas, by way of San Francisco, who had avoided prison for prison work, was in the nation’s capital at the White House – it was truly amazing grace.
I was diagnosed with obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, which unfortunately are common in the African American community.
It’s those humbling moments, being a support to others and seeking nothing in return, that gives me purpose. God had His hands on me for a long time. And still does.
Understanding that my service does not stop at the church doors is a big part of why I give back. I never branded myself as above the people or superior to those who may be struggling. Ironically, I made a career in public service as a recovery coordinator being reliable and accountable as a civil servant.
In my volunteer work with Positive Directions Equals Change and my church, I made a lifetime commitment as a servant leader. You see, servant leaders put the people they lead first, empower them, help them develop their full personal capacities and unlock their potential, creativity and sense of purpose.
I genuinely want people to do well. It’s been a great road. Now, the new generation of recovery leaders have to step forward, join the mentoring groups and continue the work.
Health is wealth, or the new gold
Today, I’m not only helping others to fight and beat their addictions, I am also fighting for my health and the health of others in the African American community. I am approaching my health with the same dedication I have done with my recovery, working hard to manage my diet and to incorporate exercise into my daily living.
During my recovery days, I focused on abstinence from drugs and helping others to do the same, neglecting to focus on my physical health with the same tenacity as my mental health, ultimately leading to a few health ailments. I was diagnosed with obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, which unfortunately are common in the African American community.
When we are not tested and treated for kidney disease early, it is usually discovered right before the kidneys fail.
Last year, just as I had begun to get those three things under control, losing over 50 pounds with healthy eating and swimming, I was diagnosed with stage five kidney disease causing my kidneys not to work well enough to keep me alive on their own.
My treatment options were limited to dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant, among a long list of other candidates. I chose not to wait for the second option, as I wanted to be able to make progress now in the moment.
Early kidney disease has no symptoms and can become kidney failure with little or no warning if left undetected. When we are not tested and treated for kidney disease early, it is usually discovered right before the kidneys fail.
Kidney failure can be effectively treated if detected early but we must do our part and go to the doctors, get those screenings and check-ups, eat healthier and exercise, even doing just 30 minutes a day broken down into ten-minute increments. We must be better at this and promote it for those after us.
I am getting regular dialysis treatments, three times a week, for four hours at a time, which will help my kidneys do their job and keep me alive. And, although a transplant might also give me more time to continue serving others should one become available, dialysis is allowing me to continuing serving others now, which is something I have found purpose in doing.
I decided to choose me, and to keep on fighting until the Lord says my work is done here. My favorite scripture is Psalm 1:27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid.”
If you or someone you know needs help for addiction or co-occurring disorder issues, please give us a call. Positive Directions Equals Change, a community-based organization in the Bayview, offers classes and support groups each day of the week.
If we aren’t the best fit for you or your loved one, we will take the necessary time to work with you to find a treatment center or provider that better fits your needs. Please give us a call at 415-401-0199 or email our team at: recoverycorner@pd4life.org. The schedule is below and all are welcome.
You can also learn more about living donation on the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) website www.kidney.org/livingdonation or by contacting the NKF’s free, confidential helpline at 855-NKF-CARES 855-653-2273or nkfcares@kidney.org.
If you want to talk to someone who’s already donated a kidney, NKF can also help. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If donating a kidney to me is something you would like to consider, I would be happy to tell you more about my story and explore the process of determining if you are a match for me.
