#106. Jamaica Bartz-Quiet Courage: Detox, Healing, And Hope

What if the bravest moment isn’t the day you celebrate sobriety, but the day you walk through the door to detox? We sit with Jamaica Bartz, executive director of Waterfront Recovery Services in Eureka, to unpack what medical detox looks like, why alcohol withdrawal can be more dangerous than people realize, and how trauma-informed care changes outcomes. Jamaica’s not speaking from a distance. She started using at 15, cycled through jail and warrants, and hit a point where meth wasn’t a party—it was maintenance. Her turnaround is honest, messy, and deeply human.

We break down the nuts and bolts of treatment: screenings, individualized protocols from nurses and a physician, and 24/7 monitoring that makes the first days safer and more bearable. From there, most clients move into 30, 60, or 90 days of residential treatment to rebuild routines, learn relapse prevention, and reconnect with genuine community. We also talk straight about fentanyl: uneven potency, xylazine contamination, and why “safer” methods like smoking can still be fatal. Harm reduction isn’t a slogan; it’s life-saving literacy paired with medical care and clear boundaries.

The heart of this conversation lives in identity and small beginnings. Jamaica shares how trauma sits beneath many addictions, why group therapy and outside referrals matter, and how everyday joys—movies, quiet nights, volunteering with youth—can replace the high with something steadier. If you want to support, Waterfront needs hands and hearts to help maintain sober living homes—painting, siding, and practical upgrades that keep people stable after treatment. Ready to hear a no-bullshit, big-hearted guide to recovery in Humboldt? Press play, then subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more people find real help and real hope.

Transcript

Meet Jamaica And Waterfront Recovery

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hello and welcome to the 100% Humboldt Podcast with your host, Scott Hammond, and my new best friend, Jamaica Barts. Is that how you say Barts? Barts, yeah. Tell me, Jamaica, who who are you? What's your day job? What do you do?

SPEAKER_06 0:41

So I am the executive director for a um medical detox and uh dual diagnosis residential treatment program um called Waterfront Recovery Services.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Right. You guys are by Target, right? Yes. Used to be Pepsi.

SPEAKER_06 0:59

No, it's still Pepsi's still there. Oh, they're still there. So the building used to be the max the multiple assistance center. Right. So like a homeless shelter for families at first. And then I believe they took the family shelter part of it out. It was still a a shelter right before, like maybe six months before we we moved in there. Tell me what you guys do there. So we um detox people, you know, we uh manage their withdrawal from various different substances. Wow. And we have nurses and um a nurse practitioner and uh a doctor to um they, you know, s go over their screenings, uh, determine like what kind of tr, you know, protocol they're gonna need and you know, adjust medications as necessary to make them as comfortable as they can be. Um and we uh nurse them through that. You know, we have detox technicians who check on them, got uh 24-hour day nurse uh detox technicians um and you know, help them come back to life and then move them on to in the continuum of care is what we would call it. I'd say a huge, uh a vast majority of those individuals will move into our 30, 60 or 90-day uh residential portion of the treatment.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Aaron Powell So they live on right there on campus. Yeah. Oh wow. Wow, what a heavy thing that must be to watch to have somebody go through DT. Is it DTs too? So alcoholism?

SPEAKER_06 2:30

Yeah. DTs. Um yeah, alcohol, you know, there's this big, you know, opioid epidemic. It's been going on for quite some time, it has evolved into fentanyl, which has become more deadlier than the um heroin. Right. But um alcohol is by far the most challenging um substance to get uh individuals off of. The the withdrawal from that is not only dangerous, but it is exceptionally hard. You know, they are um they will hallucinate sometimes, they can get severe tremors, um sometimes even uh sometimes even seizures. And the seizures can happen like they can be eight days into their withdrawal and be off of the medications and still have a seizure.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

And still seize up. Wow. Still seize up, yeah. Wow. So we'll come back to that. I want to talk about you. So tell us tell us the Jamaica story.

SPEAKER_06 3:28

The Jamaica story is um I am in recovery myself. Um I will have 11 years in March. Yeah. Um I did a lot of um ripping and roaring up and down Humboldt County, um, doing doing doing meth. Meth was my drug of choice, um, selling drugs, you know, um, in and out of jail. And um, you know, you get to a s you know, it's people have to have that moment mo most times.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Um hitting bottom.

SPEAKER_06 4:04

Hitting bottom, and everyone's bottom is different, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 4:07

Um I I never was in the position to where I just didn't know where I was gonna sleep or how I was going to eat, or, you know, I always had what we would call a hustle. Um, but you know, you get to a point where you're just like, what am I even doing with myself right now? You know, I'm 37 years old and I have nothing to show for my life. Um now I'm just using meth to just be functioning, you know. I'm not even really getting getting high anymore. I'm just functioning and um, you know, looking over my shoulder, always having warrants because I just couldn't bring myself to court. Um and it's just not not the way you want to live, you know. You can't really get a job because, you know, your your addiction really doesn't really mesh well with a job or any type of uh responsibility really. Um but you also can't get like food stamps and uh Medi-Cal because you have warrants and then you're always looking over your shoulder because you don't know when a cop when you when you're doing the kind of things I was doing, you um the cops know you. You're in and out of jail so much the cops know you.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

So you're this underground person, s pr citizen, like persona non grata.

SPEAKER_06 5:23

I mean, um if you you can call it that if you want to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah, without without a well, yeah. So tell us where you grew up and wh where'd you go to school?

Alcohol Withdrawal Risks And DTs

SPEAKER_06 5:31

I was born and raised here. Um in Eureka or? In Eureka. I mean, I was born in Arcata, but I was raised in Eureka, yeah. And um, you know, I went you I went to the local elementary schools, went through winship, went to went to Eureka High, went to um March of my senior year. Um, but I did have my first kid when I was 17. Wow. Right. And um, well, I went to school one day, changes changed his bottom, came back home, he had a rash halfway down his leg, and I was like, okay, we're not doing this. I'm not. Right. I need to make sure I'm taking care of my kids. So um, but I did take my GED and I passed that, got, you know, the full points for that. And um, you know, uh had another kid at 19. Um I don't I don't think I so I started using when I was 15. Um and I was still going to school and stuff, and um, I was I'm a third generation addict. So I was already predisposed to, I didn't I didn't grow up with my um my real family. I was raised with a really good family and nice gave us all all the good things and um all the good memories and all the things that I needed to have, but you know, it was I was just still genetically inclined to want to party. And, you know, it was introduced to me and, you know, ooh, I like this. This is fun. This is this is real fun. Let's do that again. Let's do that more. Um and I I don't I was doing it a bunch, but I don't think I was in my in a really hardcore addiction until early 20s, you know, because I was using off and on um for the first, you know, that first what five-ish years. And I had another child at 19. So um Are your kids still local? Um yeah, all my kids are local. Grandma? I am a grandma. Look at you go. I know, right? Well You're too young to be a grandma. I am gonna be 49 this year. Wow. Um, so I have a 32-year-old son and a 30-year-old, 30-year-old daughter, I have a 20-year-old daughter, I have an eight-year-old daughter. Beautiful. And then an eight-year-old grandson and a six-year-old granddaughter.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

How old do you think I am if you if you get the number right? You'll win an early Dick Taylor chocolate bar. If not, you'll have to do the quiz, which is more arduous.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Oh.

SPEAKER_06 7:59

Um Ready?

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Get it in here, Nick, it's close up.

SPEAKER_06 8:03

Um I feel like it's a trick question. Um I'm 78. No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Pull your leg.

SPEAKER_06 8:12

Okay, 54.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

54. Close. You'll have to do the quiz, however.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

Oh, okay.

Jamaica’s Path Through Addiction

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Winter, winter. I've never asked anybody on the show what my age was. So I'm trying to lighten it up here a little bit. So uh went to school here locally, had had kids, started the the addiction career early. Because part there's no question, partying's fun. Right. Until it's not fun. Sure. And you found out you hit that wall and it wasn't fun.

SPEAKER_06 8:38

Yeah, it really it honestly, like it's exactly how it went. Like I know there are fun components to it, and there's a lot of misery attached to being in your active addiction. It's just there was a there was a lot of times where it it was fun. And we would all, you know, walk around town in the middle of the night and bump into each other and we'd party, be partying and go hang out at people's houses and that. Yeah. Throughout the years, it just started to become more and more obsolete. You know, I think That's interesting. Yeah. Part of it is like the cops were cracking down. Like you didn't want to be caught walking out past like midnight, you know. Um, I know one of my first stints of trying to get clean, I just I couldn't wait till I can walk down the street at like two o'clock in the morning just to go get ice cream, just so a cop can roll up on me and be be like, What are you doing? What are you doing? I'm being at ice cream. Is that a crime? You know, that that was my bot, you know. Just it was a silly goal, but it was a goal nonetheless. And it was it was a healthier goal, you know. Sure. Be out at two o'clock in the morning getting ice cream and not that's healthier. I mean, it it's just the mindset, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

I I like I like the notion though, because the that party and has an arc and an obsolescence, and you it's the same old stuff, same old buzz, same old people. What started really fun, and it's not bad to have fun. It's not bad to have connection, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

With people that you care about. Um and then it goes sideways.

SPEAKER_06 9:58

Aaron Powell It goes it goes way sideways.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:01

Um which is sad.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

It's it's got that slippery slope element to it.

SPEAKER_06 10:05

Aaron Powell Yeah. People just start getting shady. Um everyone starts trying to steal your things, um start stabbing you in the back, start telling on you to the cops.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

I remember as a teenager in San Diego. So we had we we were very rough. We weren't junkies or anything, but when I started seeing guns, I'm going, what happened to our little pot party here?

SPEAKER_05 10:24

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

We're drinking Heineken's man, and you had a gun. What what is what I'm just holding it for a guy. Well, that's weird, bro.

SPEAKER_06 10:33

Yeah, that is weird. And keep your guy over there.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Yeah. Who are you hanging out with there, brother man? So yeah, to to see that obsolescence and where it's it doesn't have the the panache and the fun that it did. Yeah. Yeah. So I wonder um we'll talk about that later, but I wonder what what next level stuff is. Uh what do we replace all that with? Because I think we do have a need for human connection and for fun. That's all good.

SPEAKER_06 11:01

Um well, you know, first of all, I'm a very social person. I've always been a social person. I am the type of person I could be in a whole nother country and make a friend. You know, just I that's just who I am. Right on. Um and I was never the type that just I wanted to be hanging out by myself, but that's what it became. I just like, I don't want to be bothered. Um you know, don't I don't I'm not gonna answer my answer my door. I'd just rather be by myself and party privately. I not even I guess again, not even partying anymore. You're just you're still using, you can't stop, you're a slave to it now.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

So it's not even partying, it's maintaining. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_06 11:36

It's just you're maintaining. That's just what you do now. And and like what is it? What is that?

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. The disappointment of the uh the promises never kept.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Yeah. And the the story of addiction, yeah. And we'll talk about that a little bit. So um who are you? So I'm just gonna go right before my questions. Okay. Who are you, Jamaican? What do you want?

SPEAKER_06 11:58

You know, I want well, first of all, I just want anybody with addiction. I owe this is what I always say. I always say, um, you know, because it's not gonna be perfect once you get clean and once you eat better, but if you have even just like this this much, just a little bit, just a little pinch of anything that I was able to have, then then you're already doing a hundred times better because it's something. Yeah. You know, some it's some type of happiness. I just want people to be better and um live up to the potential and see the potential and love themselves. Love themselves enough to, you know, keep fighting the fight. Aaron Powell Small beginnings are a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Yeah. Yeah. There's a a proverb that says, don't despise the day of small beginnings. So I think we've got to start somewhere. Yeah. It doesn't you don't get perfect overnight and the healing, whatever that is you're looking for, is never uh never that uh the the big dream. It I think the dream is comes with some chunks of reality.

SPEAKER_06 12:56

Well, yeah, because like you have this you have an idea. You can't have an idea of what that healing's gonna look like. It's just it's gonna unfold on its own. You can't you you so you're gonna set yourself up for an uh expectation that you don't have no idea if you're gonna hit.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Right. Right. So I like what you want. You want people to be just incre maybe incrementally on the way. I love it.

SPEAKER_06 13:17

Um just enough to we're want more.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Yeah.

unknown 13:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:20

Keep wanting more because that that's what it happens. You get addicted to the next good thing that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yeah. So addictive p personalities need something positively addicting that's I'm sorry, that's a positive thing that they can be leaning into and addicted to. Like maybe fitness.

SPEAKER_06 13:39

Not not me. But sh but sure.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Some people.

SPEAKER_06 13:42

For for a lot of people, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Not me, but a lot of people, yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Or, you know, uh art or, you know, music or whatever they're gonna be into.

SPEAKER_06 13:51

Yeah, art or music or um sometimes it's just the simple things, you know. I personally, uh I right now, like I I love my thing right now is and it was before too, it's just I'd love to just be I like to stream and watch shows and just get or go to the movies and ooh, what good scary movie is gonna come out. Just pretty simple, pretty simple things. I mean, I like vacations and experiences too, but um sometimes it's not like the the best thing you're gonna uh you know, the most exciting thing you're ever gonna do, but it's just gonna be something that makes you okay.

When Fun Becomes Maintenance

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Yeah. I like that. It makes you okay. So Joni and I have a uh routine called the quiet night in.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

So tonight's a quiet night in, so I'll I'll leave the podcast, drive to McKinleville, and put on my uh my cozy's kind of thick sweats, Costco thick hoodie, and uh we will make our senior citizen salads. And instead of 35 years of dining at a table with kids that are crazy, we'll sit in front of the TV and watch our senior citizen programs and chill out. And uh, hey, I might go to bed before 10 and actually sleep, which is really actually at this age is really fun.

unknown 15:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 15:06

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

I'll give you my age, by the way, when we do our quiz. Okay. So you get a hold out for that a little bit. Okay. Um Hey, if you're just joining us, my new best friend, um, Jamaica Barts with Waterfront Recovery Services. That's correct. Yes. I read the letterhead, I got it right.

SPEAKER_06 15:23

So you printed some stuff out. I see you.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Oh, I got your whole thing. You're cheating over there. I don't cheat. I just do a little homework. I try to do too much homework because I don't want to wreck it. I want it it's genuine, so I want to keep it real. So um you told us where you you come from with your education. What kind of jobs did you have before you did this?

SPEAKER_06 15:41

Did you um I, you know, I was a meat clerk for like three and a half years. I did that for like three and a half years. I raised food place in Eureka. Sure. Um I what else I do? I worked, I was worked at a private residential care home for, you know, I feel like three and a half years was like this this number I couldn't get past with relationships, a job, and I didn't not not consciously, of course, but then when I in hindsight, I'm like, well, I did this for like three and a half years, maybe three and a half-ish years. Um I I worked at the you know, bulb farm. Everyone everyone's worked there. Didn't they? Didn't we all? I mean, at one point I was just like, yeah, I want to do better. I'm gonna go get a job. And I was someone told me to do that, and so I did. I mean, oddly enough, you you relapse while you're doing that too, because there's a lot of there was a lot of, you know, drugs out there and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

So Raise Food Place, man. They're uh legend back in the day.

SPEAKER_06 16:40

Aaron Powell Oh, yeah. I mean, I really thought I was gonna be um I'm a little bit of a weirdo when it comes to meat and certain things. I just am. But uh I thought I was gonna be like uh traumatized by it, like, oh my God. But I I didn't. It made me feel better, actually. And um, but it also made me appreciate a better quality of meat as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

You had great beef back in the day.

SPEAKER_06 17:01

Yeah. So I, you know, I went into cutting meat. I cut the counter um a couple days of the week or helped cut.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

And so you know there's no tri-tip cut in Texas. They don't understand it back east. It's a California thing. Aaron Powell Really? It's sirloin of some sort, right?

SPEAKER_05 17:16

It's uh well what are they gonna what are they gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 17:18

I think they call it brisket or something different.

SPEAKER_05 17:20

Oh, oh, I was like, well, what do they do with it then?

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Those weird Texans. My friend got mad at me because I was getting on people on the East Coast and their attitude last episode. She goes, You can't get on East Coast. I go, Of course I can, because they're just East Coast people. They're not they don't roll like we do. California, all mellow and I want a mocha. They're just straightforward, which we love you, East Coast guys, and we appreciate you. So let's talk about uh addiction and Humboldt County. And so what what drives addiction generally in our county? How how does it happen? What's typical? What who would we what does that look like?

SPEAKER_06 17:57

I'm not going to um like pinhole it into just Humboldt County. Sure.

SPEAKER_04 18:04

It could be anywhere.

Replacing The High With Real Life

SPEAKER_06 18:05

A lot of addiction is really is um stemming from some type of trauma in most cases. Um you know, uh we as a medical facility, uh we do we do like the um like a half hour screening, you know, and we ask for records uh if someone tells us some things about maybe some mental health conditions we want to look at. And so we'll get records. And it's just aside from that, you know, we do like these um assessments on them, you know, to determine their treatment.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 18:34

And then ask some like biopsy psychosocial um questions. And uh I don't want to say you'd be surprised because I'm because I'm sure you can imagine, I'm sure anyone can imagine, but just the the amount of trauma histories you hear and and some of it they tell us and some of it we see in these records, and you just you can't make these things up and they are just they're pretty bad, you know. Um I think that there's a lot of there's a lot of instances where clients will know that's where it's coming from. And there's a lot of instances where they don't even realize you know, they still can't admit that that's maybe something blind spot. That's driving or that keeps leading them back to using, even though they try to get clean. Because if you're not working through or trying to address that issue, it's probably going to continue to come back and bite you.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Right. So you're addressing that along with the detox piece. Aaron Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:26

Well we try. We can't make them go to therapy. We we can't try to make them do grief counseling.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Aaron Powell But you have therapy sessions where people could come and do group whatever.

SPEAKER_06 19:34

Yeah, we have group we have group therapy, we have um we do one-on-ones with them. Uh for people that have um who report significant trauma, uh, we do put uh we set them up with therapy, outside therapy, like with um LCSW or MFT or something. Um if it's grief, we send them to like grief therapy or grief uh group. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

So we're talking uh I mean my mind let's talk about trauma. My mind immediately goes to profound sexual abuse, profound ongoing verbal abuse, profound uh beatings in the mental abuse. And trafficking, I'm sure, is a piece of some of that.

SPEAKER_05 20:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Do you know Katrina Sims? You know Tina? Uh up in McKinleyville? She's uh she's a big advocate uh Yes, I know Katrina, yes, yes. Around um human trafficking awareness. Yep. Yeah. Hi Tina.

SPEAKER_06 20:30

Hi, Tina.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Hi, Tina. Hope you're doing good. So you you're native, so you got your Yurok tribe hoodie. Oh yes. Tell me about the uh being native in Humboldt County and that that piece.

SPEAKER_06 20:40

Well I I am a York tribal member. Um you know, it's just funny because when I was in school for addiction and we were doing special populations, they were talking about the, you know, basically like white privilege and or people being discipline a minority. And I just have I don't feel like I've ever felt like a minority. I mean, I I guess maybe because of this area, it has a lot of uh, you know, big native community, but I just I've never I've never felt that. Um I my one of my biggest regrets is, you know, I spent, you know, the better part of 20 years growing up in my addiction, I mean, with some spots of clean time, you know. And I I didn't engage in my culture enough. Um and you always know that like if you're under the influence and you're using like you just you don't do that because it's really bad medicine. I'm very superstitious. I don't want any of that bad juju on me.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Right. So it's a big no-no in the culture.

SPEAKER_06 21:37

It's a big no-no.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

So don't come in high to the the white deer dance. Whatever. What's the dance they do in hoopah? It's a it's some sort of white.

SPEAKER_06 21:45

I'm I I don't know what they do in hoopah. That's different. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

But you wouldn't do that.

SPEAKER_06 21:50

Aaron Ross Powell I would absolutely never do that.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Don't go don't go high to the thing. Um I guess it's like getting high and going to church. It's pretty much kind of weird. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:58

Yeah. I mean people do it, but people do it, but if you I mean I I even I could be don't matter what kind of uh substance I'm using, I'm knowing I'm not doing that.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Although I I have stories with friends that had or associates that do stories of hardcore LSD use that led them definitely to a religious to to God in some way that they it made them go, oh no, this is this isn't right. But I'm not we're not suggesting that for you kids out there today.

SPEAKER_06 22:28

Trevor Burrus I mean they do have certain therapy. That where you do, like they have like the ketamine therapy and there's they have that. Do you guys see some of that?

Trauma As A Driver Of Addiction

SPEAKER_00 22:36

The the uh ketamine and uh therapy in the program or people associated with the program?

SPEAKER_06 22:42

Not in our program.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Um we do it, they prescribe it locally.

SPEAKER_06 22:46

They do do it locally, and it's like a microdose. Um none of our clients have done it, not while they're in the program at least.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I see.

SPEAKER_06 22:55

Um, you know, that's I mean, that's actually a really good question because no one's ever asked, but I just I'd have to I'd have to really be thinking about that because of course it would be helpful for them, right? And I I'm not opposed to anything that's gonna help someone get better. But then you have to beg the question like, okay, I guess I can think of it as I wouldn't send someone to the hospital we wouldn't send someone to the hospital and tell them you can't give them a medication and then they can't come back. We wouldn't do that. But it would be a little bit weird, you know. I think it'd be a blurred line just because, you know, you come back, you're in your intermingling with the rest of the residents, and you might be talking about that you had this kidemic therapy, could trigger somebody. I mean, I know it sounds it is what it is. Different things trigger different people. Sure. You don't ever want to put the someone in the position to um be triggered. Or want to use again. Or want that's what I'm saying. They'll like want to be used again. I mean, at least if they did, they'd be in a safe spot. But you just it's so d addiction is so diverse, and what leads people to relapse or want to leave treatment, it's just so many different variations of what that could be, and we just I don't ever never want to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 24:07

But I don't want to be opposed to you know, letting it, you know, having them set someone up for after treatment.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

You know, it's certainly effective. I l in a podcast. We've laughed about that. I heard it in a podcast. Um yeah, England has studied that and with with some success. And you know, for veterans with severe PTSD and things of that nature. So um so tell me more about the program. So I come in, I'm addicted, strung out on say heroin or fentanyl or meth, and there's an assessment, and then I can begin to get treatment and then live there.

SPEAKER_06 24:40

Yeah. So you do the screening. Um it's a 56-bed facility. Wow. So 36 are for residential clients. 20 of them are for detox, although we never hit that capacity. Um I think the most we've ever really done, we ever really do anymore could be like 12, depending on the acuity level. And that just goes back to, you know, if we bring more than that in, like how much the staff can handle.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

Right.

SPEAKER_06 25:11

Um, it kind of becomes uh we need more staff to bring more clients, to be comfortable bringing more clients, but then we need more clients to want to be able to afford the more staff. And so it's like a chicken, the chicken and the egg thing. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Funding. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:26

So it's like, you know, hashtag goals, but um right now we just want to make sure that uh we're not overdoing it for the staff. We're not overdoing it for the providers or nurses, and we're not gonna leave the the clients in a position to where they're not getting the best care that they can get.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

I love it. I find this really holy work. I think it's cool. I and I I gotta think it's really brave um for uh for me, quote, the addict to come in. It's a kind of a an act of courage to go, I wanna I want to get sober and I want to pull my my shit together and I want to live life and and participate again and and check back in. And I think I think that um aha. An epiphery moment for me. I I get it, and I love it because I think people are a Mago Day, they're created in the image of God, and that love and the creator is there, and it's like, oh, and you're gonna come back and be with us. That's so cool.

Therapy, Groups, And Boundaries

SPEAKER_06 26:25

It is pretty cool. And it is and it is and it is brave, you know. Um I remember when I was in treatment, they you know, the question was, what do you think it if you do you think it's easier to get clean, or is you think it's easier to stay clean? And mine was it's easier to stay clean because the getting clean, like just and I'm I was only meth. I don't say only meth lightly, but sure that's that consists of a lot of sleeping and maybe eating, you know, and just not having a lot of energy, but it's not otherwise uncomfortable, you know? Um, but I just I didn't like it. I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to do that on purpose. I didn't want to go through that on purpose. So once you can get past that, to me, okay, I've got past that now, like, you know, let me it's to me, it was just easier, you know. Everyone's gonna be different, but it's uncomfortable. And especially if you are coming off an opiate or um, you know, alcohol. Like some people walk come in there, they just only didn't drink that morning, or they maybe had a little bit that morning and they're already like starting to withdraw. And it's yeah, it is brave and it is scary. And um unfortunately that keeps some people from coming in. But um, I think the best thing about it is that we are medical and we can we don't got to depend Okay. Let me backtrack.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 27:37

Before we became Waterfront Recovery Services, the the um agency, the organization is alcohol drug care services, which has been around since like 1990.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Is it private county what? It what? Is it pr is it privately held or is it county organization?

SPEAKER_06 27:53

Oh, it's a no, we're we're a non-profit, we're a non-profit. Yeah, yeah, we're a corporation. Um but we so I think they started out with just having like a detox that it goes way back and they were all everything was ran out of houses. But I started working for the organization in 2000, actually 10 years this um 10 years this month.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Congrats. Thank you. Happy anniversary. Thank you. Thank you for your service.

SPEAKER_06 28:17

You're welcome. Um but we were a social model. And I worked in detox at that time, and we did we did the screenings 24 hours a day. We don't do that now, we have business hours. But when people came, we would have to sit, we were social, which means we don't have medical. So we would, of course, give them their medications and we would check on them and and we would do vitals, but the clients would have to go to the hospital to get a medical clearance.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 28:46

And people would be walking all the way. We're with I was on 14th and C. So they'd be walking all the way across town to the hospital. St.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Joe's and back.

SPEAKER_06 28:55

Sit there all how how, you know, they're they're they're they're not like the higher need in the emergency room. So they could sit there for hours.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

So they might change their mind in the journey.

SPEAKER_06 29:04

They might change their mind in the journey. Or just maybe they go they just they don't want to sit there and wait all day. They don't want to walk across town, wait there for hours. Then they would get prescribed medications. And, you know, there would be some doctors that were in there that were really like, you know, they were sensitive and compassionate to it, and you'd get an okay um uh they would call it a kick pack, but you'd get an okay kick pack. And it might be even for opiates, have uh Ataban with it, you know. Um but you know, there was one who and I I I just I won't do it, I won't say your name, but she was just so mean and she wouldn't give them something to make them comfortable and she would say, Well, they're not gonna die. They're not gonna die with from withdrawing. And I'm just like, but they might die if they keep using. Yeah. Um and so those were the that that was that was really soldiering up, in my opinion, because you were going through all those motions and you might not get good medications to help you make make you comfortable, and yet you people would still sit through it, you know, would still go through it.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

And you might get one shot at it, and if they're not taking care of you. I mean, but now you guys do it right, you dispense on the spot.

SPEAKER_06 30:12

Oh, right there. And it wasn't successful. You didn't get it wasn't a high success rate, you know?

SPEAKER_00 30:17

No.

SPEAKER_06 30:17

And it was before they were really um before, you know, medication medicated assistant treatment was more prevalent. And like now it's like everywhere and it's more accepted.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Pretty dialed in science, right?

SPEAKER_06 30:28

It's pretty yeah. But I mean, like there's just more doctors prescribing it. Like the hospital has their own um, you know, like the bridge program, and they have uh a substance use navigator, and they're just the community and is really coming around. That's cool. Is the way I would put it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Um so you have relationships with St. Joe's and Providence and all that.

SPEAKER_06 30:48

Yeah. Um so so when we take it over here to now we're a medical model, we are really able to um like I said, make make someone very comfortable and help them through it and monitor them until they they can they can get through it and then start the real work.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Aaron Powell It's a sad, hard thing to hear about and also beautiful. Aaron Powell Sure. I love it. I I'm getting it. Yeah. So why do you do this?

SPEAKER_06 31:13

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

What drives you to do this thing?

Medical Model Vs Social Model Detox

SPEAKER_06 31:16

Well you know f okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

It's not a check, I'm sure. It's a check doesn't hurt, but yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:24

You said earlier like how much how much of it is heart. And I and I would say at least obviously I gotta live. I have to have a paycheck.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Should be paid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:34

Definitely isn't for the paycheck.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:37

Um and it is 90% love and um understanding and compassion. Compassion and um want it wanting people to make it like I did.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Well it's gotta be hardcore to watch somebody detox and DT and and all the things that I can just uh imagine to to be part of that and to it ain't pretty.

SPEAKER_06 32:00

It ain't pretty, but it is pretty.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

It's and it's kind it's kind of a paradox. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So if you're just joining us, um, my paradoxical friend, Jamaica Barts, thanks for being here, by the way. It's we're having fun. Yeah. This is great. So I I relate because my friend Jeff uh had not one, not two, but three detoxes at St. Joe's.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

We had escort him from his apartment in Old Town, number time number one, and down the stairs by the belt loops and getting his butt to kick in his dream. Oh, just a mess. You know, dying in his couch, just a pool of of death. And um here's a classic guy that had a beautiful life in an apartment and just got um crawled into a vodka bottle over what, months and weeks, and his roommate let him do it, which is also icky and ugly, but uh took him three times, went through red woutine challenge, got sober for the better part of a year, and got out. It was gonna go to uh was, so you know where this is going. He uh had to stop over at Motel 6 in Arcade and drag himself to death. So it doesn't always go well, right?

SPEAKER_06 33:11

It doesn't always go well.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

So you've seen some death in this?

SPEAKER_06 33:15

You know, yes. And I you know, I always try to think it out, like try to think about it in my mind. Like, is it because I'm getting older that I know more people that are dying or also the line of work because now you are that m that much more connected or have you know um you know, came in passing with more people that are that are now dying in the answer is yes. It's just a lot. It's surrounded by death, I feel like a lot, you know. But also surrounded by a lot of miracles, too.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

So Yeah. Which makes the makes makes it easier maybe to survive it and thrive in it.

SPEAKER_06 33:58

Uh people always say, I don't know how you do it, you know. Um, but you just do it because you care about it and it's meaningful and we need it.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

People need it. Love your heart, and I'm sure it's the same heart that beats in I'm sure most all the staff that to do that kind of work.

SPEAKER_06 34:14

100%. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yeah. No, I love it. And it's it's so cool. Um so let's do the quiz. Are you ready to earn one of these? Uh oh, look, an amazing Nick, did you see this? The brand new Dick Taylor uh bar and bag. Hey, this is a Baileys. I don't know what a Baileys is. Baileys is a country where they get the chocolate. Central America. Baileys, it's Toledo, which is uh part of Bailey's. And it's from the Maya Mountain Cacao. It's dried plum, tart, cherry, and jasmine flavors. Isn't that appropriate? So are you ready?

SPEAKER_06 34:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

Are you ready for the quiz? Sure. You don't look very nervous. Either you're you're I I I I'm not here to scare you about that, but here we go. We'll put that. You don't get that yet to you. Here we go. Is that did I tee it up okay? I I don't maybe I make I'm making it weird.

SPEAKER_06 35:04

I don't know. I'm I'm still like trying to process like what's he gonna ask? What's he gonna ask?

SPEAKER_00 35:09

You'll have fun. I'm gonna I'll have fun if nobody else does. Question number one. Jamaica, you get to do anything you want for a day in Humboldt, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Cost is not an object. What do you do with your day off?

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Oh man.

SPEAKER_06 35:30

That's a really hard question. Well, there's a lot of options. Well, you know, I think I probably would do all day self-care stuff. That's from the hair to the fingers to the massages to the toes.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Best answer ever. You know? You're all nervous about you gave me the best answer. Let's see the nails just for grince, because you have the beautiful nails. Look at that. Would you look at those?

SPEAKER_06 35:58

These are my Valentine's Day nails. Those are pretty good. I like those.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

Oh yes, my girl, she she does good. You want to see my nails? So you're going, no, thank you.

SPEAKER_06 36:09

But buffer them, just all you gotta do is buffer them. They might shine a little.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

You know what? I think I will. You're right. So they have stuff you can buffer and then put that little code on the phone.

SPEAKER_06 36:16

It's just a yeah. I mean, like if you just did a normal file, you can um like they have like these files that have different sides, and it's just it doesn't seem like it's doing anything really. And you go like this and all of a sudden it's shiny.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

So where I go for this to my uh my spa, Frederick and Charles.

SPEAKER_06 36:32

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Oh, they're great. What's up, Ted? Um But they do manicures, so I'm gonna get me a manicure. Thank you. Question number two. What is soul crushing for you and what's life-giving?

SPEAKER_06 36:48

Soul crushing.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

I like the other answer, by the way, a whole spa day, like self-care.

Why This Work Matters

SPEAKER_06 36:54

Yeah, but I but I'm very um specific and but loyal. So each of these things would happen at a different spot. Oh, that's cool. That's fair. Well, two things would happen at one spot, anyways. I forgot the lashes too. Oh, the lashes, yeah. Um what is soul crushing? You know I guess you I guess it's hearing some of the stories that you hear, um, just the pain that people have gone through. You know? Um, you just hear these things and I just oh, you just stab me in the heart. You know, it's like you can't can't you can't take that from anybody. You can't, even if you wanted to, you know. That's theirs. You don't got no superpower to just be like, I would just take it from you if I could. Um, you know, that that has that's their own journey, but it but it is soul crushing. And it's it's it's really hard to hear that um there's humans out there that do these vile things to their kids or to other people's kids, whether that be you know, physical, emotional, sexual, mental, um, you know, uh y'all knock it off. Knock that shit off now.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Quit that shit, man. That's bad. You're talking about bad juju.

SPEAKER_06 38:17

I'm talking about really bad juju. And um there's a lot of evil people out there.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

It's just Yeah, it's too bad.

SPEAKER_06 38:23

Gross, gross people out there. And it's um and it's it's not like they're not just doing these things to these people, like these things are lasting effects.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:33

And trauma. And and and then it sometimes it trickles down to to their own kids because maybe they're just whether it be their addiction or them just being, you know, um emotionally and mentally like uh stunted, you know, uh it's all the it just it it trickles downhill.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

So you're breaking the generational stuff. That's good.

SPEAKER_06 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_06 38:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

So what's life giving?

SPEAKER_06 38:54

What's life giving?

SPEAKER_00 38:57

What fills up your cup?

SPEAKER_06 39:01

Fill up my cup is probably my kids, you know. The work is amazing. I love what I do. I love um I love seeing the success stories, but you know. I just um you know, they're my world. I wasn't the well, I was a young mom, you know. Yeah. And I wasn't at my addiction. And I I wasn't completely gone, but I wasn't completely there either. Right. Um, I was able to pull my head out of my ass when my now 20-year-old was like nine. Mm-hmm. Good. Just in time, because she's such a great kid. She's one of my best friends. I just my little deuce right there, my little mini me.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

Nice.

SPEAKER_06 39:44

Um, but I like to be very involved. I like to um I volunteer for uh youth cheerleading in football. I've been doing that for this will be my fifth year. Wow. So I am on the board and I do the cheer coordinating and I also love that. I just like to do it.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

You know a good friend Tracy?

SPEAKER_06 39:58

Uh Tracy Day? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

Yeah.

Rapid-Fire Quiz And Humanity

SPEAKER_06 40:00

Yeah. Uh Tracy. Her I've known her for a very long I've known her for a very long time, since probably the better part of since my son was a year old. So he's 32. Amazing person. Um and Jacob known them, and her daughters were my daughter's cheer coach. And yeah, they coached, right? They were really into it. Yeah. They still do. Yeah, they're pretty cool. But um I I love that too. I just love watching these kids come there and um not feeling that confident or not really even ever cheering before, or maybe playing football and then just gaining their self-confidence and learning their craft. And just, ooh, I'm like get goosebumps thinking about it because like they just um it's like I feel proud of them like I'm watching my own kid. Right.

SPEAKER_00 40:40

Be part of a team.

SPEAKER_06 40:41

Yeah. So I really love that. I really love um, you know, anything that's volunteering with my kids' schools, anything that I I really should have did when I was with my older kids. Unfortunately, we just me and my son grew up together, you know. Like that that wasn't what it was.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Aaron Powell What I'm hearing you say is that it the game's never really over, unless you quit. But so we can always have the comeback trail.

SPEAKER_06 41:04

Aaron Ross Powell A hundred percent because I was 37 when I decided, okay, this this is stupid and this isn't the life I want to live anymore.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

Aaron Powell So my dad, who was an addict, he was an alcoholic from World War II, he's a P51 fighter pilot. And he was kind of he was kind of he was a badass. He was he was just a great American killer pilot. He was an ace. And he came back and he drank for 40 years. Because they didn't have drugs for that. They had Budweiser and a bottle. Right. And when I was 13, he got sober and he became a new man. That's a good idea. And he was beautiful Bob was a beautiful man and he SOB, sweet old Bob, he would hug people and Oh, not a son of a bitch. Yeah, no. No. He was that. He became the new SOB.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 41:52

SOP two SOB 2.0 2.0. And um just a new dude and and sobriety uh he wore it well and knew all the stories. And all these AA guys, he dragged me to AA meetings in San Diego. And I'm going, yeah, these guys are all drunks. I can smoke weed and drink Heineken. I'm fine. You know, these guys, these this is stupid. And it went in one ear and it stayed for me. By the time I was 19, I was sober.

SPEAKER_03 42:20

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 42:21

Yeah, it was really cool. And I was able to not, you know, die of drugs. And so um yeah, thanks, Dad. And thanks for the example. And what a great what a great guy, what a great model. And um you know, so sometimes we can come back as parents or as friends or as people or spouses and come back and be there for people.

SPEAKER_06 42:40

Well, yeah, and I know like I've had some minds be like, just be so ashamed, like, oh, my parents, I mean, my kids are always gonna know, like they were in foster care. And I was like, but sure, they're gonna remember they're in foster care, but they're also gonna remember that you fought for them. Yeah. And that you're mother effing warrior, and they're gonna remember that too.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

And you're gonna come back.

SPEAKER_06 43:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

So I mean, I love it. Yeah. Don't forget you're a warrior. Don't forget. It's a good word. I like that. I had a friend tell me that once. I was grousing him, you know, this deal, it's such a bad thing. And I'm it was we were selling a home and it was so terrible. And he goes, Scott, you know that God called you, calls you a warrior, so start acting like one. Ah! Called you out. Thanks, Michael, for that. Question number three. You're not quite done with this either.

SPEAKER_05 43:28

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

So, question number three. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_05 43:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

What was your best day and what was your worst day in life?

SPEAKER_01 43:41

This isn't fair.

SPEAKER_06 43:45

I know, I know. I don't I don't know what to say a worst day was. Maybe one of the worst days.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

One of the worst days. And one of the best.

SPEAKER_06 43:53

I think one of the worst days, it's hard because I can say this was a worst day, and I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Good, better, and different. It might not be real, but I believe in all the forces that may be the universe and all the forces that may be. But and it was from the t it's what got me clean. I was already sick of it, but I got arrested with my son. We got arrested together.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 44:19

How old was he? He was um twenty. He was twenty. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

Yeah. Hauled in together?

SPEAKER_06 44:26

Um, yes.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 44:27

He got out, I stayed in. Of course. That that was my fourth felony at the time. But just like and I'm just like, ew. Like this is ew. Huh. It's not, it's not hard. I mean, I okay, I'm not embarrassed. I'm not ashamed of my past. I can't be. That's who's made me what I am today. Like it's everything's part of my story, you know? And I'm not, I'm not scared to say it. I'm not ever gonna hide it from anyone. Um, that's that's not who I am. You asked me who I am, but that's not who I am. I'm not gonna, no one's gonna make me feel bad because of my past, any of that. But in the time, I was like kind of like ashamed, like, God, like who gets arrested with their own kid? That's just come on, you know what I mean? But it is like what turned it over, you know.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

I've I love it. That's here I am now. You're making a great point that I've I've searched for for a minute, and that is, you know, we talk in the circles I run in shame is bad shame, you know, don't shame people. Of course, you don't shame people.

SPEAKER_03 45:30

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 45:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

But my friend Steve goes, there's a positive shame, and you just talked about it. There's a place where you go, Oh crap, this is this is not the best version of me ever. And I can't I I'm feeling some shame. Shame that changes and transforms. Yeah. Yeah. And converts into something cool and transformational.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

I like it. Well, uh okay, that's what's your best day? And then you're getting close to the chocolate, by the way.

SPEAKER_06 45:57

Best day? I can't I don't know. I don't I think I can say there's any one best day.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

A best day. Something that was amazing. I don't know why why this question is so hard.

Fentanyl’s Deadly Variability

SPEAKER_06 46:18

Well, I can tell you a really good day that was actually happened not too long ago. And my grandma turned 85. Wow. And um happy birthday, Grandma.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

What's her name?

SPEAKER_06 46:31

Her name is we call her it's we call her Bubs, Grandma Bubs, but her name is Barbara.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

Bubs, Barbara, happy birthday. And is she local here?

SPEAKER_06 46:41

Yeah. She's 85. 85.

SPEAKER_00 46:43

She's sharp?

SPEAKER_06 46:45

She's pretty sharp, you know. She has her moments, but yeah, she's pretty sharp. I'll be like, I'm gonna be like grandma when I grow up. It gives me hope because you know, you you turn almost turn fit, you're getting getting close to 50.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

You're like, You're so old right now, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_06 46:57

Come on, it's a hard pill to swallow. But then I'm like, shoot, that's I can have 35 more years, you know? Right. Um, but and a lot of the family gathered. You know, we got pictures of beautiful, you know, all of her kids, and then um, we did like some generational um, you know, all all her kids, all her grandkids, and then all of the great grandkids.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

So in your culture, that's she's an elder. Yes, absolutely. And they're venerated, right? They're who? Venerated, loved, and listened to and respected.

SPEAKER_06 47:29

Oh, I'm honored. Of course, you should if you're doing it right. If you're doing it right. If you understand it, right.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 47:39

Yeah. Um, so I I really loved that. Um there's just something about uh, you know, when you you have a really big family celebration. I'm the oldest of eight, you know. So um and everyone comes together, you know, and celebrating the person that, you know, we all came to be from.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 47:57

And uh that was pretty cool. I really like that.

SPEAKER_00 47:59

Magical. Well, guess what? You are the winner of a Dick Taylor. Okay. This is for you. Don't eat it all in one sitting, although you they're delicious. Um I wanted to ask about fentanyl real quick before we go, and then how we're gonna support you and the program and how people can reach out. So f fentan two two different things. So fentanyl, of course. So fentanyl is really super dangerous, and we all know people that have died from it. I mean, I I know a handful of people and I don't uh that have been affected or their kids o OD'd and got some some bad drugs and and people that were really cautious about fentanyl and still died. So uh it's it's it's talk about that for a sec.

SPEAKER_06 48:42

Well I don't when it comes to something like fentanyl, I think any drugs that you can overdose on, but fentanyl is a an exceptionally evil beast. Um and you know, there's it's coming from all kinds of different places. Like, you know, they're pressing it, it's safe. They're gonna press it into a pill, they're they're gonna call it a perk 30, but it might not be evenly pressed, you know. You can split that pill in half, and half of that might have like almost none of the fentanyl in it, and the other half be like full of it. Right. Or um it's it's in it's in the um meth. And you know, they do have kits where you can test your meth for it, but you a lot of people aren't, they're not thinking on the I'm yeah, like I let me test this real quick. I it's they're thinking on the I'm gonna get I need to get high representative.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

I want to do some pure drugs.

SPEAKER_06 49:31

I want to do yeah. But um and same thing, like if I don't know if you've ever seen like when the cops bust people and there's big old chunks, like these blocks of fentanyl. Well, you know, how are they mixing it? My again, certain your bag, your bag of uh fentanyl might be this bag of fentanyl from the same piece might just be some and this might be very potent, you know?

SPEAKER_00 49:55

So it's not uniform.

SPEAKER_06 49:56

There's no it's not uniform. You don't really know what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

FDA FDA controlled hair.

SPEAKER_06 50:00

You don't know what you're doing. Um they've had xylesine in there, like that horse tranquilizer basically. Um and you know, of course, if you're clean for a while and then you go use, then that that that you think that you can do.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

Your tolerances are all shot.

SPEAKER_06 50:17

Yeah. So I mean there's again different variables.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

There's a spectrum of variables that could kill you. Yeah. And do. Uh so we've had a lot of plenty of fentanyl death here in the county, right, over the years. Yeah. Yeah. Sad.

unknown 50:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

High risk. It's a high risk behavior. That's kind of the scary thing. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_06 50:34

Very much so. Like you're you know, used to be well the other thing is people stopped like uh using it intervenously because of that, because of it being so dangerous. But um I think that it it doesn't really matter which way you're doing it. You know, the people think that they're being safer by smoking it. And sure, it's lower risk, but it's still high risk.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

You still die.

SPEAKER_06 50:59

It's still yeah. It's still gonna, you know, suppress your breathing and lower your heart rate. And you know, if there isn't someone there to see that, then you might not wake up.

SPEAKER_00 51:07

Right. So epidemic, if you will. So how do we support y'all? What do we do? Can we if once one wanted to volunteer, give you money, throw you gold bullion? What what can what can we do to what one gold bouillon, please know? Um big bar.

SPEAKER_01 51:22

Uh I you know, um, volunteer.

SPEAKER_06 51:33

Volunteering is helpful. Like we we have four, we we don't typically take volunteers in the facility, but I this did take one of the first volunteers we had in a really long time. Um so but also volunteering, like for right now, we're trying to um we have four sober living houses, which the programs used to be ran out of. And they have a lot of work that needs to be done to them, you know, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Construction. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 51:58

Really? Yeah. Contractor.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

Contractor. Hey, hear that, Nick. Yeah. So so somebody that wanted to volunteer that could swing a hammer, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 52:06

Do drywall to put up a yeah, like right now we have to replace siding on one of our houses. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:12

So that's really practical.

SPEAKER_06 52:13

Yeah, it's really practical.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

You guys could buy materials.

SPEAKER_06 52:15

Yeah, we buy the material. We could buy the materials.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 52:18

Um we need one of our houses need to be painted. I um w been in contact with Heidi Benzanelli who said, well, maybe we might might be able to get one of our painters, but then we would maybe get all the guys out there to help paint. Have a paint day. Yeah. Things like that. That's pretty cool. Things that like you have to really And they could call you directly or call the program. They can call me directly or um What's a good phone number for the program? It's 707-269-9590.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

269-9590.

SPEAKER_06 52:49

And my extension is 204. Um, but if you were to leave a message, just leave a detailed message.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

I love it. And you could volunteer and just help to help volunteer your time.

SPEAKER_06 52:59

Volunteer volunteer your sk volunteer your skill.

SPEAKER_00 53:01

So you're that you're a nonprofit, so you could take a donation too.

SPEAKER_05 53:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

Cool. I love it.

SPEAKER_05 53:07

So yeah.

Identity, Legacy, And No-Nonsense Love

SPEAKER_00 53:09

Why not? Why not? All right. So awkward silence, and then we're going to ask about you and your legacy. What what do you want to be remembered for at your at your celebration of life? Who who were you and what did you do?

SPEAKER_06 53:22

I I'm happy being remembered for what I'm doing now. And and I have to tell you, again, when I was in treatment, they say one of the one of the tasks was your old identity versus your new identity. Ooh, cool. My old identity was if you said my name or saw me, you instantly thought of drugs. Okay. But now when you say see me or say my name, people instantly think of treatment and recovery. And that that's all I could ever ask for.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

That's beautiful. I love it.

SPEAKER_06 53:53

No longer the person who can get your drugs or sell you drugs.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

Right on. Right on. I think identity is so key. Sure. It's in leaning into the right identity because it's assigned, attempted to be assigned by so many people. Our parents, coaches, spouses. It's like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope and then we all have a fake idea. Here's my fake idea. Do you see that? Oh, here's another I have a whole wallet for it. Well, that looked like I could be everything. Yeah. But these fake ideas that we carry around that are not who we really are, metaphorically. That I'm not um I'm not my job. I'm not just a husband or a dad. Those are all part of who I am.

SPEAKER_06 54:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

I'm not just good at being social, like you said, as social people. We kind of get life from that. That's not exactly who I am. So I think it's it really key to do the work. So there's some recovery work to figure out who the heck God made you. Yeah. And how you're wired and how you're going to lean into those gifts. Sure. That becomes beautiful. Yeah. And then telling the truth, that's the other part of what I've learned is just be honest. Just tell tell yourself that. Let's start with telling God and yourself the truth. Yeah. You know, and be honest with people and just be straight, because it's it's way better to work with facts.

SPEAKER_06 55:09

No one no one likes a bullshitter. Nobody likes a bullshitter.

SPEAKER_00 55:12

Another way to say it, folks. Well, delighted to have you. But last question, what's on your tombstone? You're getting tired of all my life.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

No, well, I don't want to do elections.

SPEAKER_06 55:29

Probably just um here lies a no bullshit and tell it like it is. Mother, daughter, friend with a big heart.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

You heard it here, folks. First. That's awesome. I love it. With a big heart. That's gonna take a big tomb to understand all that.

SPEAKER_06 55:55

Hey, but I'm a I'm I'm short, but I'm big.

Closing Thanks And Credits

SPEAKER_00 55:58

But you're big. I get it. I get it. Yes, you are. Well, thanks for coming. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_05 56:03

Yeah, no problem.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

Yeah, thanks for being available.

SPEAKER_05 56:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:06

Well, folks, uh, join us again next time on the 100% humble podcast. And you can find us guess where? On YouTube. YouTube and uh Access Humbled on TV.

SPEAKER_06 56:17

Oh my God. This is going on TV. That's why there's cameras. Say hi, Nick. I was tricked. Dang it. And then he also let me cuss.

SPEAKER_00 56:27

Yeah, that's okay.

SPEAKER_06 56:27

You can cuss on YouTube. I don't know if you can cuss on TV. Cuss a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 56:30

Yeah. I cuss a little bit.

SPEAKER_06 56:31

I toned it down for you.

SPEAKER_00 56:32

We didn't have we didn't do too many F-bombs. We're good here. I didn't do any just for you. I didn't hear any. I haven't heard any yet. Friggin' F-bombs. So um, oh, and but brought to you by uh Dick Taylor Chocolate, Quality Body, Dutch Brothers Coffee, um, and Nick Flores, who is with Growing Pains, is his podcast. So a lot of people make this possible. And um, shout out to all y'all. And join us next week when we uh have a new guest with uh 100% Humboldt, the movers and shakers, difference makers that make this place iconic, amazing, and 100% Humboldt, Scott Hammond.