Sunday, July 08, 2007

Re: Sunday Afternoon: From Pete

7-08-2007 @1:47pm
Hola Brother John {aka GI Joe!} ~ Yesterday at the Housing Workshop
I felt that Brother Ken with Liberty House felt competition from you and the One Step Up approach. Plus, with your offering only $400 for a shared room and meals.
I suspect Ken lied or was less than fully truthful as to his sobriety time, but that is his inventory. The concept of Liberty House is a good one, but it has major flaws in its fabric.
Obviously hard-core recovering addicts will not do well with easily obtained Independent Living when that so-called independence is what got them into being strung out dope fiend or demented drunks dependent on booze/dope in the first place! Plus, there was no real recovery treatment program or recovery network available with Liberty House.
I tend to be cynical in relation to wondering about peoples motives and true intentions.
Manny Dias with the Clean and Sober Program has a few places, but relapses and insanities run rampant there and are a usual occurance There is the Readiness Program, Mather Community Campus and Quinn Cottages that function as transitional housing programs, but they often run into a lot of troubles that could be avoided in the main. Sometimes 'experts' are at a loss when faced with continued downfalls among their clients and fail to spot warning signs and learn from their clients.
In fact, if one is NOT really working a wholistic recovery program one cannot possibly relapse since relapse is actually a medical term. It happens to one who was beginning to recover in a treatment program, then, relapses back into the diagnosed illness. Think of a hospital patient who is undergoing cancer treatment. Many times people think that being sober is enough and often relapse, or better, go back into their active participation in their chemical disease. It's chemical warfare on the individual level.
If we sober up a horse thief we are still left with someone with a major character defect!
The usual recovery program consists of merely staying sober, going to meetings, working the 12-Steps and getting a sponsor.
Of course, HOW is works is with Honesty, Openness and Willingess to change for the better no matter what the cost or struggle.
My concept of progressive recovery involves a lot more then just the traditional AA approach. It includes digging into the root causes that got us caught up in harmful behavior patterns and self-destrucitve mentalities as we became lost in spiritual darkness. Eventually, this kind of comprehensive treatment requires getting professional people to help in terms of various treatment modalities.
Unfortunately, a real comprehensive treatment program could involve thousands of dollars, such as with Passages in Malibu:
A wholistic approach requires us to treat the whole human being in the mind-body-soul trinity.
Plus, doing practical and positive community work that utilizes our energies as we develop new ways of living. We pray, dress up and go to a recovery meeting, not be there at the Liquor Store before it opens. IF there is no fundamental radical change in our lives in terms of our mental processes, behavior patterns and spiritual practices there can be no real wholistic recovery.
In the long-term we should continue to evolve as humane beings in the spiritual sense: becoming more and more caring, more and more compassionate and more and more concerned with the well being of all peoples.
Live Earth yesterday was a great global endeavor and a great example of the kind of positive environmental activities that recovering people can get involved in on a daily basis. I left my DVD on An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore at Sally's for them to watch last night. ON Saturdays we usually show a movie.
I did a blogspot with the pix I took yesterday @
I usually have a global view of life upon Mother Earth, yet my direct work with homeless people keeps me well grounded.
I rent a room as my private Sanctuary with my Cousin Mark in a nice house on 2520 'D' Street and have another sanctuary with my friends Barbara and John by 5th Street and Vallejo Way by Seavey Circle.
If not this evening, I will see you when I see you. Stay alive and keep learning!

~~Your New Friend, Comrade-In-Arms and Brother Peta
Cell: 916/968-1023
P.S. I got a lot of blogs for different purposes these days, including an Open Journal. Maybe you can create one for you. If we wisely use the Internet we can obtain various benefits.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

John Engbeck <jengbeck@yahoo.com> wrote:
Brother Peter:
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Your suggestions make great sense, and I will endeavor to adjust the profile right away. I really enjoy some of the simple models you offer up in sharing Wisdom - For example: Sobriety - Recovery - Spirituality. Sane and Sober is another one.
I take away the caution as to indulging Robert, while building our solidarity. At the same time, I will protect the Codetalker.
As you can see, my issues include a proclivity for self centeredness. Your thoughts and words are helpful in that regard. They are also most welcome, Sir. I am most grateful to be in your acquaintance.
Onward! ~
Looking forward to the meeting tonight.


"Peter S. Lopez de Aztlan" <sacranative@yahoo.com> wrote:
Sabbath, July 7, 2007 @3:38 PM
Hola Brother John ~ I think that things will go well in relation to our mutual interests if we take the time to remember that the ideal is to create a model program for SANE AND SOBER living for homeless poor people with an eye for building up our basic humane character.
I like the initiative you took in creating the blog spot:
A few suggestions: Get a lighter more brighter and cheerful template. Allow for comments.
You may want to keep it focused strictly on One-Step-Up as a program and hide your profile so it will not be a distraction from the blog purpose.
I am still here at the Shelter for today. My CASA Meeting starts at 7 PM on Sunday, tomorrow and it would be glad if you were here. It is not your typical meeting, but then each meeting has its own specialness and uniqueness...
Office Phone: 916/442-0331 x3051
Cell 916/968-1023
Blessings to You and Your WIfe Jennifer ~ Brother Peter
++++++++++++++++
Peter S. Lopez ~aka Peta
Sacramento, California, Aztlan

From the desk of:

John Randolph Engbeck
PO Box 536
Garden Valley, California 95633

Anytime cell: 510-703-5856

Posted by Unknown at Sunday, July 08, 2007

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