As a result of recovery, I feel equipped to do whatever is asked of me – An article by Lori Johnson
A published article by Lori Johnson-February 12, 2010
On May 31, 1986, a man showed up at my door and told me what his life used to be like, what had happened, and what his life was like now. After telling him off and beginning to slam the door in his face, I asked, “but just in case I know someone that is living like that, what is it they should do?” Through the slamming door, he threw in a blue book and a meeting guide with a meeting circled for the next night.
I had been living in the darkness of addiction for many years; however, three months prior to this visit my fiancé had been killed and there were not enough drugs or alcohol to numb that pain. As God always has, this was the perfect timing for the gift of recovery. I went to that meeting the following night, June 1, 1986, my sobriety date, and began the journey of the amazing life I live today. I found my passion of sharing the gift of recovery in numerous ways since that pivotal day.
As a result of recovery, I feel equipped to do whatever is asked of me. I have become a strong, successful woman; a loving, gentle daughter and sister; and a loyal, dependable friend. 23 years ago, I had no communication with my mom, and today our relationship has healed beyond either of our dreams. As a result of recovery, I believe my service work belongs outside the 12-step recovery rooms as well as inside. I regularly have opportunities to live a life I am proud of, my family is proud of, and to leave my community more healed than when I arrived.
My late husband, Richard, and I established Amicus House, a 6 facility 9 month treatment program, in 1998 after selling our half interest in Moriah House, a drug and alcohol treatment program based in Northern California that he started in 1989. When we married in 1990, we began to share a dream of being in service to families in the grip of the disease of addiction. Building Amicus House into one of the most highly regarded treatment facilities in the county was not without its challenges. When Richard entered the treatment field in 1977, the criminal justice system did not view treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Within our county’s court system, he became a prominent advocate for a new approach educating judges and encouraging them to allow addicts and alcoholics to enter residential treatment in lieu of jail time. Later, as treatment programs in our area became more popular and stories of poor management and poor ethics began cropping up, we both advocated and assisted in creating standards of operation monitored and overseen by our county’s District Attorney’s Office. We were one of the first treatment providers certified through this program that is seen in California as guidelines that should be used throughout the state. After Richard’s passing in 2001, I relied on a strong qualified staff to help continue the high level of treatment we had become known for and over the course of the past eight years we have made significant improvements to the program to continue to help our clients with a curriculum based on historically proven treatment methods, as well as proven cutting-edge methods. Quite often clients come to treatment with broken spirits and a beaten down sense of self. We help them find a way to heal, become empowered by the process of recovery, and begin a new way of life and believing in themselves and the prospect of their own success.
Four years ago our primary treatment facility burned down. As it had when my husband died, my faith in God pole vaulted to another level. I found a certainty of truth which my whole life had been teaching me. “All is in Divine order. If I listen loudly and watch with my eyes wide open, I will receive the blessing this perfect gift has been sent here to give me.” Our facility was rebuilt better than ever.
The Latin meaning of Amicus is friend. The inspiration for our name came from the legal term Amicus Curiae, which means friend of the Court. Amicus House became our name because we have always strived to have a good relationship with the Court system which only benefits our clients that have criminal justice issues; because some of us come to recovery with no friends, therefore, we want to be considered a friend to the newcomer walking up to our home; and we, addicts, may come here in search of a friend, which we find in Amicus House, recovery, and many of the people we meet at meetings and in the fellowships of recovery. Most importantly, as we work the 12 steps of recovery, we find the best of all friends: Ourselves!
This article was featured in It’s all in the Journey Magazine
