Wow, reading some of these stories is like reading about my son & me.  My anger is so intense!!!  I am angry with him & angry with his dad for introducing the drugs & alcohol to him.  My son was sheltered & over-protected all his life… until dad came back into his life.  Now for the past 5 years the fear of my son dying is as real as the air I breathe & it is not fair!!  Why would anyone do this to their own child ?? All I can do is pray to God that my son wants help & wants to live & see his daughter grow up. I pray that God gives him the strength to fight this addiction.

Comment from the Director:

You are suffering terribly. I hear that. Each family situation is unique and yet the terrible pain brought on by addiciton is the same. When you say that, “All I can do is pray…” I wonder whether or not there is more than can be done.  We know of many, many families that have asked us the question, “well what else can we do?”  In almost every case, we have found that there is a lot we can do.  Loved ones get better faster if the famly becomes involved.  Consider call our admission department…ask them, “is there something else you can do?”  You might find out the phone call can be the first step in discovering “Yes!  There is something I can do!”  Sincerely,  The director.

I enjoyed meeting Yvonne Kaye today with Alan introducing her at the Family Education meeting.  Both the Alan and Yvonne were sensitive to the needs of Family Ed audience.  Penn Foundation’s concept is simple & radical, to involve the family of the addicted individual, and help clarify their role in treatment and recovery.

Recommended reading:
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction
It depicts father-son anguish, with first-person-narrative and how ADDICTION impacts an entire family.

For the first time in a long time I find myself sitting down and not having to worry every second of every day if my son is coming home.   And when he does come home will he be coherent or combative or worse, non responsive.  My son is only a few days in a recovery house, but I can hear in his voice he is nervous and a little scared but he is trying - something he hasn’t done in a long time. He called this afternoon to say he had a sponsor and when I hung up the phone I cried, not tears of sorrow, but joy.  I have Penn Foundation to thank for that.

He has been to rehab three times.  The first facility was not family or patient oriented, it was more of a “factory”, come in and we’ll fix you, it didn’t work.

But then someone was looking out for us because we found Penn Foundation. I feel like I found a family, one that listens, one that supports, and one that cares not only about their patients but about the patient’s families.

I know I have a long haul ahead of me, and my son has even a longer one. But knowing that I can pick up the phone any day and know I can get help has given me a new outlook on life. I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!

I specially want to thank Alan for all his continued support.

I wanted to commend you, as Director, for the wonderful job the Recovery Center does for the addict and for the addict’s family.

My son was in-patient there and received caring, professional care.  Dr. Newton restored his (and our) faith in psychiatry, and his counselor made a real connection with him.  My son is now living at a halfway house in Lititz where he seems to be getting continued help in his recovery and we are cautiously hopeful.

The Family Education Program is outstanding and specifically has helped my husband and I through a very traumatic time for our family.  To know we were not alone any longer in working through this despair was overwhelming. We have never met more compassionate, committed people to help us through this ordeal.

Thank you again for the wonderful job you do!!

I have been in-patient at Penn Foundation Recovery Center 2 times.  The first time was about 3 years ago, the second was about 6 months ago.

The first time I was here I paid no attention to anything anyone told me, because I knew it all.  They told me that addiction was a “disease”.  I thought that was a load of crap.  I could quit when I wanted to, I just never really wanted to.  I didn’t even want to quit while I was in rehab, I just went in that first time to get out of some trouble.

So then 3 years later I found myself living on people’s couches (if they would let me).  I even had to sleep in my car a few nights, but I was lucky I still had my car - I had lost everything else.

I was lucky enough to get back in to Penn Foundation Recovery Center.  It was interesting that a lot of the same staff people were there, they remembered me and welcomed me.  They asked me while I was going through the admission process “what is going to be different this time?” The biggest difference was me.  This time I knew that I didn’t know anything!

I felt like a new baby learning how to walk.  I listened to everything the staff had to say, and even looked to the “techs” for advice.  The Penn Foundation has a great program.  They even helped me find a place to live that was a clean and sober environment.  I couldn’t go back to my friends couches (not that I wanted to) but didn’t think there were other options.  I am currently living in a “Recovery House” that Penn Foundation helped me get in to.

The most important thing I could tell someone thinking about going into treatment is to please listen.  The staff only want to help.  Its like going to the doctor…  you don’t go to the doctor and tell him he’s full of crap for telling you that you are sick.  The staff are the same.  They are telling you how to get better, if you listen.

I am writing to let you know how I am doing since completing my out-patient treatment at your facility.

I have remained clean and sober and I attend “12 Step” meetings regularly.  My counselor recommended that I at least attend a few meetings before I make a judgement about them.  I really didn’t want to go, but I figured that trying a few couldnt hurt.  I really like that nothing was forced on me.  My counselor didn’t make me do anything, just encouraged and recommended.

Thank you, Penn Foundation, for giving me the push I needed to get me to go to meetings.  I have new sober friends that are actually good influences on me.

I can not thank you enough for for your help yesterday. You made it very comfortable for myself and my family. I found a doctor today and I am feeling much better. I am going to contact my insurance tomorrow to see if I can continue my recovery with your establishment. I like how you operate. You made me feel very comfortable and can not thank you enough.

I have been through inpatient and outpatient programs at Penn Foundation Recovery Center.

I am very impressed with the seamless connection with these 2 programs!  While I was in the Inpatient program, the Aftercare Coordinater set me up with Outpatient for the day after I graduated.  I didn’t have to wait, I just came right in the next day and continued my treatment.

I felt like if I didn’t have this support, it would have been like jumping off a cliff and hoping for the best.  With the help of the Outpatient Department, I had a “step down” rather than a bug jump.

I have nothing but good things to say about the staff, both Inpatient and Outpatient.  They really know what they are doing and have a lot of knowledge that they are happy to share, if you are willing to listen.

My best advice to someone coming into treatment here, inpatient or outpatient, is to listen!  We like to think we have all the answers already, but if we did, we wouldn’t need treatment, now would we?

I graduated from PFRC a little over 2 1/2 years ago. My fiancee graduated a little over 1 1/2 years ago. We are BOTH still clean, and on 9/9/09 our son was born perfect, healthy, and having NEVER had a drug introduced into his system. (Okay, except caffeine.)

As a multiple-time visitor to the PFRC, any of the staff that’s still there who knew me, also know my daughter - soon to be 7 - who didn’t get to be born in such an awesome way. I NEVER could have done it this time without everything I learned there over the years.

2 1/2 years later (6 years if you go back to the beginning), I STILL remember every group with Kelly, every story Ted told, and every interesting hair color Ryan went through, or every time my counselor told me I’d just have to wait until later to talk to her (long story, but I needed it). I could keep naming people, but my fingers would get tired before I finished.

I owe my son, in a great part, to PFRC, and I just really wanted to say thank you.

- Angela

I am a 28 year old man who has been using coccaine and alcohol for the last five years.  I began with the occasional use on the weekends then progressed to using during the week.  Eventually I got to the point where I was using before work, during work, afterwork and any other time I could.  I lost my apartment twice; lived with many different people over a couple year period and lost my job more times than I can count.  My addiction negatively affected my relationship with my girl friend. The one affected worst of all was my little son.  I neglected him with time and attention.  This was the bottom for me.

I then decided I needed to get into a recovery center.  I heard good things about Penn Foundation so I made the call.  Before I knew it I was entering the recovery center for a 14 day stay.  Needless to say, I was scared to death.  Every part of me dreaded going into Penn Foundation.

Now that I have gone through the stay at the recovery center I can tell you don’t be affraid.  The tech’s, counselors, nurses and Dr. Newton all listened to what I had to say.  In reverse, they have great knowledge and understanding to give if only you listen.  I found that if I kept my mouth shut, open my mind and listened I would hear for the first time “hope”.  I received support from the other inpatients along with learning new ways to identify and deal with the triggers that lead to my using.

The first step is the scariest and most difficult to accomplish.  Put those fears away and you can find yourself 30 days clean and counting.