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 The Miami Foundation

 

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Sponsored by Better Way of Miami, Inc, Thriving Mind South Florida and the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families.

Better Way of Miami, Inc. complies with state and federal nondiscrimination laws and policies that prohibit discrimination based on age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status. It is unlawful to retaliate against individuals or groups on the basis of their participation in a complaint of discrimination or on the basis of their opposition to discriminatory practice.

Better Way of Miami , Inc. cumple con las leyes y las políticas estatales y federales de no discriminación que prohíben la discriminación por motivos de edad, color, discapacidad, nacionalidad , raza, religión, sexoorientación sexual, identidad de género, o estado transgénero. Es ilegal tomar represalias contra individuos o grupos en función de su participación en una queja de discriminación o basado en su oposición a la práctica discriminatoria.

Better Way of Miami, Inc. konfòme li avèk lwa ak politik nasyonal diskriminasyon leta ak federal ki entèdi diskriminasyon ki baze sou laj, koulè, andikap, orijin nasyonal, ras, relijyon, sèks, oryantasyon seksyèl, idantite seksyèl, oswa
estati transganr Li ilegal pou fè vanjans kont moun oswa gwoup sou baz patisipasyon yo nan yon plent kont diskriminasyon oswa sou baz opozisyon yo a pratik diskriminatwa.

This publication was made possible by Grant Number H89HA00005 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Health Resources and Services Administration or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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For the Miami-Dade Transit Title VI of the Civil Right Act Notice to the Public, click on this link

 Title VI of the Civil Right Act

Please forward your complaints to our EEO officer at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

If you have any questions or concerns, this person can also be reached at 305-634-3409.

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Articles

Jerry M. - Journey Through Recovery

I will start my journey at what I hope and pray was the end of my drug and alcohol addicted lifestyle. I say journey because that is what this process has been to me. I had pretty much reached the end of having fun with the old lifestyle. I was homeless and divorced, I was angry that my son was killed in an awful accident and was on a really bad road to destruction. I had become a pathological liar and did whatever I could to get the next drink or drug. I was fired from yet another job at the city, where my mom had worked for 20 plus years. I found myself with no options, and then it was suggested to me to go to treatment since I could cobra my insurance and this would give me some time to figure out my next plan. I ended up in a treatment center. While at this center something happened, I found a desire to not use and to do something different. I finished the treatment center and started going to aftercare, one night when I left the session I drove to the drug dealers house and purchased some crack, as I was knocking on the door I can remember saying to myself I can’t do this. I now know that was the insanity that they talk about in step two of the twelve steps. The next time I went to aftercare I did something totally different I told the truth and admitted that I had relapsed and told them I wanted help. I was told that my insurance had run out and that I could not continue with aftercare because I relapse. Fortunately there was a therapist there whose name was Tyrone, he told me to give him my phone number and that he had a place for people like me and said he would call me when they had a bed open. I remained drug free for 3 weeks and continued to go to NA meetings and wouldn't you know that the same day that I received a call from Tyrone; I had just returned to house with $100 worth of crack, I was supposed to be at this place called Better Way within the hour. Needless to say I did not make it. I called the center and spoke to a guy called Zack who I knew from a previous treatment center. He told me to get a ride there and that they would do an intake. My mother loaded my suitcase in the trunk and we were off to Better Way. I had no idea what the place was. When we pulled in the curtains were blowing through what used to be windows and I realized I was going into a condemned building. Zack told my mom to open the trunk, and then he took my suit case out and told my mom to leave. My mom sped away and I was standing in front of the building thinking, oh boy, what am I going to do now.

I was told that Better Way was 12 step house and that if I didn't want to recover that I should leave. I had heard about these 12 steps but did not really think they would help me. It didn't take long to realize what a special place this was. We were self-governing and monitored each other very closely. All conversations were about the 12 steps and most importantly about the spiritual principles.

I spent six months at this program and it was life changing. I was told by the other residents not to go back home but to stay and continue my journey. I didn't listen and I took my will back. I went back to live with mom and started attending the NA meetings which I was attending before Better Way. One of the suggestions was to stay out of relationships for a year. I didn't think that should apply to me as I was doing so well. I went to see the new love of my life and she explained that she was getting high and would not blame me if I left but hoped I would stay. I gave her extra money to make sure that she got enough drugs for both of us. That began the worst run and bottom of my life. I continued to use for about a year and a half, then I got a call from Jimmy, who I was in treatment with, and he encouraged me to come back to Better Way. I returned to Better Way on February 1993. I begged them to let me in and was told the only reason they were letting me in was because they didn't want me to die. I began to take all suggestions and made a commitment to put my recovery first at all costs. Beth Lang, who was the most caring and giving person I have ever encouraged me to continue my journey in recovery and to go back to school. I enrolled in Miami-Dade College and thanks to her and David Raymond, from Jewish Vocational Services, I was given a job 2 days a week helping the homeless population at Camillus house find work. From there my life has continued to get better. I went to a school called ATI at the advice of Beth and spent a year leaning how to counsel people in substance abuse. I then went to Barry University and received my Bachelor’s degree, and then Barry University’s Masters in Social Work program. It took me 9½ years to finish my education. I had become a supervisor for the Jewish Vocational Center, and I did my internship with Bay View Center of Miami which was a mental health facility. Upon graduating from Barry they offered me a job to start a new program for them. Throughout this journey one thing that I have never wavered from are the Spiritual principles that were taught to me at Better Way of Miami. I am now the Clinical Director of Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches. I teach the things I learned at Better Way on a daily bases and I am truly grateful that Better Way has opened the doors for me to change my life. In February of 2011 I celebrated 18 yrs of recovery and am truly grateful to Beth Lang and the people from Better Way who made this possible.