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EP# 199 -From Addiction to Empowerment: Will Kitchen's Journey with Teen Challenge Fort Myers
Will Kitchen's journey from addiction to empowerment is a powerful testament to faith and perseverance. Join us as he shares his inspiring story and discusses the transformative work happening at Teen Challenge Fort Myers. This Christ-centered residential program is changing lives by helping individuals overcome addictions and life-controlling issues. Discover how belief, self-worth, and a supportive environment are crucial ingredients in the recipe for personal transformation. Will unwraps common misconceptions about addiction recovery, emphasizing that change is possible when individuals recognize their worth and trust in the support systems surrounding them.
This episode also features a special guest who narrates their life-changing relocation from New York to Southwest Florida, all for a new opportunity with Teen Challenge. Learn about their personal journey and the role family and sports play in their life, as they engage with their three boys' athletic pursuits. We highlight Teen Challenge's unwavering 30-year mission to provide free support to those battling addiction and encourage listeners to reach out for help if they or someone they know is in need. This episode is a testament to the power of faith, family, and the courage to embrace new beginnings.
Teen Challenge Fort Myers
Will Kitchen
5646 7th Ave
Fort Myers, FL 33907
(239) 275-1974
info@teenchallenge.cc
swfloridamensrehab.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, cabo, jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 199 of the Good Estero Podcast . Today we have Good Neighbor Will Kitchen from the Teen Challenge, fort Myers Welcome.
Speaker 3:Hi, yeah, thanks for having me, Jim.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to be on here with you, yeah absolutely Always good to get to know people in the community and what they do and share that with our listeners. So why don't you start off by sharing a little bit about what you do over at Teen Challenge Fort Myers?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So Teen Challenge exists to put hope within reach of anybody struggling with addictions and life controlling issues reach of anybody struggling with addictions and life controlling issues, and we offer life transformation through Christ-centered programs. And so we're a fully residential program. And even though our name is Teen Challenge our local organization here, our local homes are adults, so we're 18 and over here, but we do have teen adolescent programs within our network, some of those that are here in Florida and in a couple of other states that we're partnered with as well, so we provide full-time care and services for individuals who need them.
Speaker 2:Very nice, very nice. Let's talk about your story and back it up a little bit. How did you get involved with all of this?
Speaker 3:So I had some issues when I was young. I turned 43 in two weeks but, you know, 20 years ago I had, you know, some pretty significant issues. Some drug issues had been arrested for possession, had been in a pretty significant drunk driving accident with a friend of mine who was driving and had just a lot of things that within about a year span that happened. That really, you know, put me in a difficult situation. I almost died from a drug overdose, just a lot of things. And I had opportunities. You know, I was generally good in school up until, you know, in high school, when I started having significant issues. I played sports and would have had opportunities to play basketball in college, but I was just too into the wrong thing and I had an opportunity to get my life turned around.
Speaker 3:You know, god stepped into my life and intervened and, you know, put me on a path of recovery and within about a year later I was enrolled in school again and on my way to, you know, helping people and entering into ministry through the church. And while I was in school I got to meet one of the founders and directors of a teen challenge up in New York, in Long Island, and so, upon graduating, I went up there and did an internship that was back in 2006, and just really fell in love with the organization and the opportunity to help others with a similar life that I had experienced and hopefully help people get out of their dark situations, and so I spent a year there in Long Island and then about 2008, after my wife and I got married, we moved to Brooklyn and served with Teen Challenge in Brooklyn, where it all started, until we moved down here in 2020. And so we've been down here as the directors of the center here for a little over four years and just enjoying the ride in terms of the journey. But there's so much work to be done down here and there's so much need and opportunity to help, and so that's what we really, really strive to do.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And my next question is going to be about challenges, but it seems like you've been through a number of them already. Is there something that maybe you know? I guess a lot of people that go through that are going through those challenges. Is there a way for them to you know, obviously, like you do, you did turn your life around. How does you know? Can we walk through that a little bit?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know change in general is a challenge, right, there's just so many of us we don't like smaller changes in life.
Speaker 3:We don't like, you know, things popping in on a daily basis that we have to adjust to, and so just the idea of life change is an extremely daunting task and something that you know can cause a lot of anxiety and stress.
Speaker 3:But there absolutely is, you know, possibility and opportunity for people to change their lives, and you know, a big, big piece of that is just overcoming belief and overcoming our own.
Speaker 3:You know internal challenges of whether we believe that we can, whether we believe that we're worth it, whether we believe that the opportunities presented to us are good enough or opportunities that will work, whether or not we believe that people are really willing to help us, that we can trust them. And so, you know, one of the biggest challenges for myself and so many others who come into our program is just that learning to believe, like learning to believe that you do have what it takes, you know, because most people that deal with addiction they work very hard for that addiction right, and they overcome challenges on a constant basis to get their drug of choice or to get whatever it is that they need, and so they absolutely have the ability, they have the resilience to make it happen. It's just a matter of overcoming those mindsets, and so that's a big piece of why a program like ours, or others that are out there, a big piece of what is really needed is helping people to overcome that barrier.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you mentioned that change comes within. But it's nice to have that support system or guidance from an organization such as yours to help people through that, to help them realize that they're not alone, that they do have support. You know we've got to work at this together and there are people out there that can help you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely yeah, change is within, but you know the environment absolutely matters and that it can be a big piece of whether or not we're able to make that internal leap.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Can we talk about maybe some of the myths or maybe misconceptions surrounding what you do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure, you know, I think for us, I think you know obviously there's a myth around whether or not people can change. Certainly, you know it can be quite a process and you know people don't often get it the very first time around right. It's a journey that they have to go through, and so that's a big part of it. You know, sometimes there's struggle believing, you know, just in mental health, how mental health plays a part of it. Some people don't think it's as big of a deal or as important as it, as it really is, and so there's sometimes some, some work to overcome in that.
Speaker 3:I think, in matters of faith, you know, just depending on people's backgrounds, some people think that, you know, faith can't be, or shouldn't be, a part of it, or maybe God isn't helpful in the process. And you know, of course, what our center is built upon. You know strong belief in Christian values, and so we believe that that's a huge part of it. And I think, just even in terms of investment, you know, I think addiction is such a big issue and we see the effects of it on a constant basis, and so even for those that would want that, would support or be potential supporters, just overcoming the the challenges and beliefs of whether or not it's it's something you know worthy to give to, and whether or not people can change their lives, and so I think there's a lot of those things that are mixed into what we do and into an organization like ours, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Now are you seeing? You know, I don't want to say trends, but things that are different from maybe 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago. Or are they a lot of the same issues, just in a different platform? Per se?
Speaker 3:A little bit of both. You know addiction is addiction and it's been the same because it's the same processes in our bodies and our mindsets. But absolutely, you know society has changed the type of. You know addict quote unquote that we get has changed the mindsets. You know addict quote unquote that we get has changed the mindsets. You know the drugs of choice have changed to some degree and you know we get a lot different type of individual, you know, now than we did. You know when I started, you know, 18 years ago, you know we got a lot more and some of that may be just even where I was located before, but there was a lot more.
Speaker 3:You know what some people might say like a hardened criminal. You know, back in the day that we're reaching out or going through the program and now we just see a lot of individuals who have just grown up and just not really learned how to handle life right. We see a lot of younger individuals, you know, still living at home and struggling to get started, struggling to see how their life matters or what they can do with their life. You know everyone to some degree is on a medication now which didn't used to be the case, lots of mental health meds and a lot of people have just been through so many different types of programs and the system has grown extensively and so somebody could have been in and out of you know so many different institutions, so many different programs, jails and whatever the case may be that you know sometimes they can be a little bit jaded towards that or, you know, can have their mind made up about you know programs before they even get there. So it is quite a bit different, even though addiction is the same.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. On a personal level, you mentioned you were from New York originally, what ultimately brought you down to Southwest Florida.
Speaker 3:Really and I originally I grew up in Missouri but I, you know, spent Really and I originally grew up in Missouri, but I spent almost 18, 20 years close to up there.
Speaker 3:We were serving with Teen Challenge there and I had just finished getting a master's in clinical mental health counseling and had some plans of opening up somewhat of a practice there to provide counseling for the men in the program and then just anybody else as well.
Speaker 3:And you know, we got a call about a month after that that they were looking for a new director down here and we had some connection with this place here in Fort Myers in the past, you know, five or six years before, and they had, you know, talked to us about potentially coming down and being the directors and we just didn't feel like it was the right time.
Speaker 3:And they had, you know, talked to us about potentially coming down and being the directors and we just didn't feel like it was the right time. And when we got that call the second time, you know the ministry up in New York was in a kind of a transition and we just felt like it was the right time to come down. I mean honestly, in 2020, I was probably, we were probably one of the only ones of the thousands upon thousands that moved down to Florida at the time that that didn't really want to move to Florida and weren't really didn't really have that in our plans for life. But we felt like it was the right move and it was good for our family, and so we accepted the offer and decided to come down. Perfect.
Speaker 2:Perfect Now. Now you mentioned your family. Obviously that plays a big part of who you are and what you do and outside of work, when you do have a normal moment of free time, spending time with them obviously is important. Now there are other things you enjoy doing when you have some downtime.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I mean I myself. I still love sports. I play basketball and, of course, pickleball, like everybody else in Florida and all over the world, and just anything you know moving that I can, and most of my time right now gets spent. I've got three boys who are all into various different things. One plays football right now, one just finished golf. The other one he's pretty young, but he just finished flag football at his school and they're all getting ready to jump into basketball here, and so, yeah, we're constantly running from practice to practice to game and everything in between. But it's a great life. That was my life growing up as a kid and I'm really excited to be able to provide that for my boys as up as a kid, and I'm really excited, uh, to be able to to provide that for my boys as well and just be a part of their, their growth and their journey. And and hopefully, not too often being that dad that's just, uh, yelling too much from the sidelines we've all been there.
Speaker 2:We've all been there. I played sports growing up myself, so it's like just be quiet, let me do, but then no that's. It's great to get them involved in that and be able to watch them grow through that as well too. So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about Teen Challenge that maybe they're not aware of?
Speaker 3:Oh, man, you know the biggest thing. You know that we're here. It's always surprising, you know how many people don't know that we're in the area. We've been here for over 30 years and so that's a big part of it. But number two is just that you know we're here to serve and we're here to help. You know we partner with a lot of churches and local organizations and we provide essentially a free opportunity for people to come into the program, and so you know, if they know someone or they meet somebody or work with somebody or have a family member that's struggling, you know, please, absolutely give us a call, because you know we're willing to work with folks and you know we don't have a lot of stipulations that would keep somebody from coming into the program. We just want to get people in and even if they're not a good fit for us or that's not the route they want to take, we want to do our best to try to get them connected to somewhere. So you know we're here, you know we're ready to serve.
Speaker 2:And you know, we hope to be able to help out any way that we can.
Speaker 3:So how would our listeners go about getting in contact with you if they had some questions concerned or wanted to learn more? 239-275-1974. And then, of course, we've got you know Facebook and Instagram and all of those things that you can find us on as well. But if you connect through the website or give us a call directly, you know we have all the information there that you could get a hold of us and we could move forward.
Speaker 2:anyhow, we need to Great, great Well, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for what you do in the community and I hope to see you out there soon Awesome.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, jim, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Astero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.