Mike Shivers is coming to Houston tomorrow night, June 21st! He will be at the La Hacienda Outreach office for the alumni meeting at 6:30pm. Mike told his story at Spring Branch a couple of months ago and everyone loved it. You don’t have to be an alumni to come, we would love to see you!
Hello, my name is Kristin Zerr and I am an intern at La Hacienda currently working on my LCDC. I have been working here 10 months so my perspective is fairly new. I never get tired of looking at the view out here and watching lives change because of the wonderful program that we have to offer.
My treatment knowledge was very limited before I started working here. My idea of a treatment facility was a hospital environment consisting of hospital beds and rooms where Doctors made rounds. La Hacienda has changed my vision and I now realize how inviting and welcoming a treatment center can be. From the minute I walked in La Ha gave me a sense of calmness and relaxation. Between the alluring landscaping, open and spacious campus, and the welcoming staff; I feel spoiled everyday that God has blessed me with this opportunity.
(photo La Ha river property)
Meet one of our yogini’s at La Ha, Beth Rumbo. I had the pleasure of participating in her class the last time I was at La Ha. The patient’s LOVE it! Yoga is not all she does as you can see below. She is a fitness machine and committed to the healing of our patients.
I have been working at La Hacienda for 2 years this May. This job is such a perfect position for me with my background. During college at Central Michigan University, I played basketball and rugby. Despite my busy sports schedule, I graduated from there with a degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Psychology. I have also received many certifications in my field as I have progressed in my career. My husband is in recovery, Justin Rumbo, and he works here at La Ha too. He recently finished up his internship for his Chemical Dependency Counselor License.
I think that the best part of my job is it doesn’t seem like work at all. My father once said, “If you do something you love, you’ll never work again”! Not only is my job fun, but it is also spiritually fulfilling. I am amazed everyday by the magnitude of blessings that come with recovery.
Hey guys, my name is Krystle Lawrence. I am your Alumni Follow-Up Coordinator here at La Hacienda. I have worked here since July of 2010, almost a year now! Basically, my role is to keep in touch with you guys, see how you are doing, and see if there is anything that we can do to help you along in your recovery journey. I make follow-up calls at 1 week, 90 days, and 1 year after discharge. With that being said, we also encourage you to keep in touch with us. Let us know if you are out there rockin’ and rollin’, or if you are struggling. I have been sober for 3 ½ years now and as we all know, life still happens even when we are sober. At the facility we have lots of resources out there to help you if or when it’s needed. I also would like to remind everyone that we send out emails regarding Alumni events. If you would like to receive emails just go to lahacienda.com and sign up! I’m so excited to be a part of such an amazing place, hope to hear from you soon!
Isn’t she great?? I just love her and look forward to having her contribute some experience, strength and hope to our blog.
Have a great day!!
I love Ed, he is so kind and wonderful. I had the pleasure of having lunch with him the other day and he told me a story from the early days of his sobriety. So many of us do not come into the rooms with a fabulous work situation. I myself had not been fired, but I did get demoted early in recovery (ouch.) There are so many people that have turned these less than desirable work situations into really positive experieces. I love hearing people humbling themselves and doing the next right thing even though it may seem “beneath them”. Ed has one of these stories.
After trying to sober up many times “my way” I finally realized I was powerless over my addiction and surrendered. I then made a commitment to participate in the 12-step program of AA. One of the biggest changes I did different this time was that I realized that I could not continue to work for myself so I took a job working in a Grandy’s Chicken Restaurant as a cook. At that time I was fifty years old and I found myself working with a bunch of teenage kids. To this day I have some of the best memories of my life, and I learned great lessons. One of the lessons was that I must first learn to accept responsibilities from others before I could become a responsible person.
Ed
Shades of Green
by: Art VanDivier, Executive Director
La Hacienda has reached another milestone in our journey towards environmental responsibility. We have installed the first of three rainwater catchment systems on the Hunt campus. You will find the first system located next to Casa Loma, the women’s residence building. Rain gutter downspouts are connected to a 30,000 gallon storage tank located at the end of the building. The next system will be made up of four 5,000 gallon storage tanks connected to downspouts from the gym. The final system will be a 30,000 gallon storage tank located between the men’s residence and the Business Office. This location will allow the system to connect to downspouts from either or both buildings. All together we can store 80,000 gallons of rainwater for lawns and flowerbeds. (Pray for rain!)
Several years ago we collapsed the “swarm” of septic tanks beneath La Hacienda. In their place we put a highly efficient wastewater treatment plant with a system of pipes placed in the ground to interconnect all buildings to the plant. While the contractor was digging the ditches for those pipes, our Plant Operations Director, Danny Lozano, placed “grey” water pipes in the ditches as well. So now years later we have pipes in the ground ready to deliver rainwater throughout the campus for irrigation.
During the first gas crunch several years ago, I encouraged employees to create car pools and we started several commuter vans coming in from outlying areas. I know of several car pools that are still going strong and the Boerne/San Antonio commuter van is still on the road which takes 10 cars off the highway when full. After wearing out my Prius, I sold it and joined the commuter van. I enjoy the social interaction or nap time it provides. I am also noticing more fuel efficient cars showing up in the employee parking lot every day. I know all of these decisions are based more on saving money than environmental consciousness but together they produce a win-win situation.
Smaller steps we have taken are to recycle cooking oil used in food preparation and we replaced Styrofoam products with paper products, where possible.
Our next project is to develop a campus wide recycling program for plastic, bottles and cans.
My Dream Project: I believe our location to be ideal for Solar Collectors but that will have to wait for another year.
I am not expecting the Friends of the Earth to show up with a “Going Green” award for La Hacienda anytime soon but we are making progress “one step at a time”, which is kind of our style anyway.
(photo via)
Dwayne has been so helpful in providing me lots of good recovery information from the NA program. I am so grateful that he has been so willing to step up to the plate and spread the message of NA recovery through our blog. I have gotten to know Dwayne just a bit more because of this and he is a great guy. I thought it would be fun for you to get to know him a bit more as well. I caught him in action at work in the Inquiry Call Center!
“I have been working for La Hacienda for a little over 3 years. My employment at La Ha has been totally the workings of my Higher Power; all I do is suit up and show up. My experience working for La Hacienda has been one of growth and faith.
I have been clean and serene for 16 years (not always serene); my clean-date is 3/12/95. I am a person that has a loving passion for Narcotics Anonymous literature. I have not been able to find anything that can describe the way I think, feel, and act so precisely. Through the process of recovery I have been able to evolve into a fully whole and wholly free human being. I use to live to use and use to live. By working the Steps and Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous I have been able to learn how to live a new way of life. (The NA Way)” - Dwayne M.
DJQT2CKZVUPE
For those of you that have sat in on Cedric Dunmore’s 4:30 focus group, “Families Reuniting in Recovery”……you recognize the song. I know Cedric isn’t afraid to sing it and I have heard rumors that our patients and families sometimes get up there and sing it too. If there is one thing we hear over and over again about Cedric’s lecture it is, “Cedric taught us so much about the seriousness of addiction and recovery in a fun and entertaining way.”
As you can see from the picture, nothing changes, Cedric is always looking sharp.
The outpatient folks at La Hacienda Solutions and their families also have the pleasure of Cedric’s lecture. In addition, Solutions patients hear the bonus lecture, “Partying with a Purpose”.
From Office 88
I once had a man in my group who was from far West Texas. He drove a tractor to work and talked of coming in from the cold and sitting beside the “farplace” instead of “fireplace” as most people would say.
Another patient came from New Jersey. He wrote software for big business, took a taxi to work and had never owned a car.
Their Spiritual upbringing was as different as day and night.
I had major anxiety worrying about these two men and if they could possibly get anything out of being in the same group. I completely missed seeing the “beauty of the forest.” In less than a week these two men were sharing their experience, strength and hope with each other and the community.
The History
Rowland Hazard was a businessman from Vermont and was told he was an alcoholic of the “hopeless variety”. After finding God, he carried the message of hope and spiritual principles to Ebby Thatcher. It changed his life. Ebby, in turn, inspired Bill Wilson, who was never a member of any church. In Bill’s zeal to carry the message he was put in contact with the second AA, Dr Robert Smith. Dr. Bob was a doctor with roots in New England and grew up with the Bible, Sunday school, and Christian studies. The “man on the bed” that Bill and Bob considered AA # 3 was a lawyer from the Midwest. He was desperate to do whatever was recommended.
The Lesson
From this first handful of AA men that were as different as the two guys in my group, we see one of the first principles of the program played out over and over. It is so simple. I myself often miss it. It is to “Trust God” and “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”. Whether it be in the Bodega, the Gym, or in one of the offices on Therapy Row, La Hacienda is fertile ground for the Spiritual healing that comes from these principles. I have been privileged to see many people receive the healing that God offers to the likes of us and to those that may have given up.
At this writing, we are loading up the old van with towels, blankets and people. We are headed for the river to see a couple of guys take step 3 to the next level by doing the Rite of Baptism on the Guadalupe River.
Thank you La Hacienda for letting God be present in this place.
Lee Roy
Joe is working HARD, I assure you! I was able to get a few minutes with him before he headed off to Big Book. The man has not stopped since he came back to La Hacienda to head up Alumni. He is doing an incredible job! You can catch him this Saturday in Beaumont.
Welcome to the La Hacienda blog! My name is Kristen Black and I am an employee and alumni of La Hacienda. I have been working for La Hacienda since October 2005. My new role is Interactive Media Coordinator and my hope is that this blog will connect our alumni, familes and referral sources. My goal is to bring La Ha to you! Peek around for all sorts of great information and if you have any questions feel free to contact me, kblack@lahacienda.com. Sincerely, Kristen
man i can relate to that…
You’re never alone in recovery
the cause of most of my probelms…
