With Love and Respect –
June 28, 2019 – “Yes, I have hope. When I say hope, I am extending it beyond the next meeting … I was ignorant that I could choose to live differently; it was not something I was exposed to,” he replied when asked if the program is helping him. Kerns, who is in the regional jail on a probation violation, said his path in life has led him in and out of jails and courts on various drug or drug-driven crimes. The RSW program, he said, was his first opportunity to be exposed to a peer-to-peer recovery group.
It was not a normal experience for him, he said, to hear a group of guys tell their stories, share their feelings and talk about empathy. When he leaves jail, Kerns will use a $9,800 scholarship he has received to enter the McShin Foundation full-service recovery center in Richmond.
