The Power of Community: Hank and Eddie

Those in recovery know how tight knit the community is, and how vital it is to maintaining their long-term recovery. Support from people who know exactly what you’re going through makes all the difference. Community bonds are the ties that hold people together when they feel at their lowest, we lean on one another and support each other. It’s a bond so strong that it passes from one person to another, and we may never know how far and wide our impacts on one another go. But here’s an example of just how important community is:

Hank Arnold is the founder of Coweta Force, a peer run recovery community organization. Hank will celebrate 13 years of sobriety this January, and since he started his recovery journey, he has been passionate about helping others in recovery find community, hope, and support. He knows that addiction is worse today than it ever has been before, and this motivates him to keep going in his mission to serve those in recovery. And sometimes that service includes a 116-mile roundtrip visit to bring a candidate hoping to be accepted into The Extension.

Alcohol was destroying me. In August of 2019, life kept getting worse. I had known Hank from work he had done at the Coweta jail while I was incarcerated. I reached out to him and said I needed help, but not from the same doors I had been in and out of for years. I wanted a year of help. It was the weekend and Hank wasn’t sure if he could find anything. Hank called The Extension and talked to Ms. Stephanie who gave us hope. Although she couldn’t guarantee a spot, Hank made the trip to carry me up there. It was just what I wanted and what I knew I needed.

“When people stay connected to service opportunities and communities that support their wellbeing, growth, and recovery, they’re more likely to maintain long term recovery. And it’s a lot cheaper to maintain recovery than to start using again, or to be arrested.”

To Hank, and to many others, community makes the difference: “Where else can you talk about it? How can you talk to anyone about crystal meth addiction? It was the recovery community, and it was people who weren’t in recovery who believed in me. Who doesn’t want to make someone else’s life better? Who doesn’t want to be a part of someone’s comeback story?”

I’ve worked in construction all my life and in the last few years, I have been building sets for Tyler Perry, DC/Marvel, and game shows. I have a work family and I was coping well with life. Less than 6 months ago, the doctor discovered I had a blood clot in my left lower calf. After many surgeries, I remember waking up and my leg was gone. Drinking didn’t even occur to me. I realized right then that life was going to change. 

I was very emotional and I asked God “WHY?” I felt like God was telling me that I was going through a journey. Am I supposed to be a testimony? The outpouring of support from AA, work, The Extension, Coweta Force, and my family and friends has been like nothing I could have imagined. My daughter worked from the hospital and never left my side. I knew, “I’m not letting this hold me down.”

Hank knows the importance of building relationships with people. “I work closely with The Extension, and I’ve seen tremendous outcomes. Coweta Force’s first staff member is an alumna of The Extension, and her time here has directly impacted the development of Coweta Force and every person she encounters daily.” Hank says she regularly remembers the days when it was hardest to stay. On these days, she recalls the time she spent with Mrs. Wynema, and how she was challenged. It was the direction and support she experienced at The Extension that still influences her today.

“Because of the relationships that we’ve developed in our community, the last time I referred someone to The Extension, they had some charges on their record. But I was able to call the Assistant District Attorney on his cell phone and make the case for him. Because his charges were directly related to his substance abuse, and because he would be motivated to stick through The Extension, when he finally did go to court, he was only placed on probation.”

The recovery community is close knit. They are careful about who they spend their time with and who gets to influence their life because they know the truth of the phrase “you are who you spend your time with.”

I can never thank everyone enough for what they’ve done for me. If I can do it, you can too. – Eddie Lee

Hank had the opportunity to become friends with a couple going through recovery, and even after they moved, they asked Hank to come speak at their 5-year anniversary celebration, shown in the picture. Recovery ties are close, and the ripple effect is huge.