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Our mission is to provide rigorous self-help programs in a safe, caring residential setting to support men, most of whom are veterans, who are transitioning from the cycle of poverty, substance abuse and homelessness to self-sufficiency.The Baltimore Station has many success stories. Here are just a few who have benefitted from the help they received at the Station.
For years, Neville was a winning marathon runner. He got used to coming in first place at school, then winning for years after, at local, regional, statewide and national 5K, 10K and long-distance marathon races. For awhile, he did so well he was able to make a living from the prize money he received, and often received money from sponsors all across the country. Neville worked at a Baltimore running store and sold running apparel to the many people with whom he raced. He pretty much stayed to himself, but then started using drugs, spending all his money, and eventually losing everything, even where he was living.
At that point he reached out for help, and his cousin came through for him and directed him to The Baltimore Station. After three days of detox, Neville arrived at the front door of The Station. According to Neville, Counselor Paul Martin took him under his wing from the start and immediately helped him navigate his way through bureaucratic red tape to get some health benefits, food stamps and other basic necessities to make his way back. “The program is all about the give-back,” Neville says. “It is a lot like school to me. I am learning something everyday, and you only get out of it, what you put into it.”
“I’ve been here now for 17 months, and I have seen guys come and go. Some can’t take it, and aren’t really ready to make the change. For me, I am hungry for the information I am getting. I am learning which way to turn when things get rough. The knowledge makes me stronger, and gives me power in my own life,” he says. “At The Station you come in close contact with so many different personalities every day. I have ‘ve learned how to deal with conflicts by realizing we are all in this together.”
Neville has four sons, ages 12 through 22. One of his sons, a former basketball player, ran into trouble with drugs and got was sentenced to two years in jail. Neville wants to invite him to The Station to talk to the guys, to learn from the counselors and to hear Woody speak. “I would love for him to get on track and start changing his life, too. The Station does a lot of work in Youth Prevention Programs. The residents get the opportunity to talk one-on-one with young teens and students who come by the station to volunteer.”
Neville gets excited when he talks about an upcoming race for which he is training. He’s been running close to 10 miles a day, and is grateful for the area he is now in, and the places he can run…to the top of Federal Hill with a view of the Baltimore Skyline, around the perimeter of the Inner Harbor, and then down to the tip of Fort McHenry.
Even though running always came easy to him, he will admit that in the past he has worked hard to win. “You can’t win, without the work, and it’s the same here at The Station,” Neville says. “I enjoy training as much as the race, but three is nothing like the feeling you get after you win the race. Early on, though, I realized that there is no difference between the people in the back of the race and the ones that come in first. Everyone is working hard, to do their best with what they have. ”
Just like here at The Station, we all make each other stronger, even through the good and the bad.”
Oddly, the same thing that brought Jimi Fardan down the tumultuous road of drug abuse was also what brought him to The Baltimore Station. He said he was just looking to feel better. He states very matter of factly, that that was his priority, and that he needed immediate symptom relief.
Jimi came once before to The Station, but that time only stayed for a short time before he returned to the streets doing what he had always done, getting high and using drugs. This time around he’s been at the station for 18 months, and he said something is different. “Woody is saying the same thing as before, but either I am hearing it differently or applying it differently.”
Jimi is a U.S. Army Veteran who served in the Vietnam War, completing a one-year tour of duty in Ammunition and Demolition in Indochina in 1964 and another tour in Korea in 1966-67. In the Army he learned to be an x-ray technician, and after that found work as a warehouse manager. After the Army, Jimi experienced readjustment issues, which manifested in employment and relationships difficulties.
He emphasizes, “Me being here is not something that happened to me, it has happened for me. I made a choice and everything after that came with it.” The approach at The Baltimore Station is a simple approach, Jimi will tell you. “You just gotta do. Just do what they say. And before you know it you are doing and thinking in a whole new way.
I’ve learned how to be responsible, cooperative, learned how to live in a community, handle conflicts, communicate effectively with the other residents and counselors, and have learned tolerance. Basically, I have acquired a whole new set of survival skills.”
Prior to coming to the Baltimore station, Jimi said he was much disassociated. He freely admits that his perception of reality was not real. His experience at The Baltimore Station has opened his eyes. Presently, the words he lives by each day are: “I will do the best I can with what I have…today.”
And Jimi certainly does that. He is an artist that sketches exceptional portraits in pencil, colorful drawings in acrylic, and thoughtful paintings in oil. He also enjoys photography and has recently dabbled in digital art. As a child Jimi was always drawn to art, but never really was encouraged to pursue it. He decided somewhere down the road to pursue it on his own, and ever since then has interpreted his work his way. When looking back on his years as a street artist, he admits that he didn’t always pursue the highest level of work. He just did it for fast money - money to pursue his drug habit. By the time he got to TBS his options were played out and that is when he began changing his way of living.
Woody Curry, TBS Executive Program Manager and counselor, and someone Jimi admires and quotes often says, “ how you define the problem is the problem.” Now after months of listening to Woody and putting into practice new ways of doing things, Jimi says he has become a better person on many levels. He’s become a better friend to his children, who range in ages from 27 to 38 years old. He has strengthened his friendship with his former wife, and he proudly boasts that he has reconnected with his daughter, who is also an artist. They often encourage each other in their artistic pursuits and have helped each other in marketing their talents on the internet.
Jimi recently was chosen to be a retreat facilitator for the Ignation Spirituality Center, which gives him a chance to lead others in opening up and sharing experiences in a safe environment. Before you longknow it, he was getting on a plane for the first time to fly to Chicago to receive training. Through this experience, Jimi has met some inspiring people and leading the group has done wonders to enhance his self- esteem and confidence.
“The thing that works for me here at The Station,” Jimi said, “is that I have no expectations of myself. I am here now. I just want to do what is asked of me. Sometimes in daily life, the realities do not allow that transition to happen. It is key that I not let fear inhibit me or lead the way in this process. I must trust the process. Somehow the change takes place, without you even noticing that it is happening.”
The transition that has occurred for Jimi during his stay at TBS has given him the courage to be who he really is. He has learned how to adjust his decision- making processes and after that, all of the other things sort of fall into place. At the station, he has found refuge and peace. He has learned to listen, discover and feel and now expresses what he has learned through his art. He no longer is trying to please everyone, and that frees him to follow his passion completely. He has a website where you can view his artwork, www.pencilmania.net. Visit it and see for yourself. A transition has taken place.
“When I came here, I just surrendered,” Cardell recalls about his experience at the South Baltimore Station. “I realized I didn't know what I thought I knew about staying clean and I was tired of living the way I was living.”
Cardell's story is one that can be told by many of the men entering the South Baltimore Station each year. After abusing alcohol and drugs for 35 years and winding up homeless in an abandoned house, Cardell knew he needed a change. That's when he entered the Station and where he stayed for 9 months.
His journey of substance abuse began at the age of 9 when he first picked up alcohol as nothing more than a curiosity. Over the next several years, Cardell's experiments became more daring and he eventually turned to using speed, LSD, PCP and cocaine. “When I thought I was old enough to go against the grain, I just went. But I got stuck there,” says Cardell. His drug abuse continued throughout high school, but he was able to continue with his extracurricular activities and even maintain high grades up until graduation.
During his adulthood, Cardell continued his substance abuse off and on even during his tour of Vietnam and while working for the Defense Department. “A lot of times when I was working, I was high. I had four years of clean time, but I was still addicted to the lifestyle of the streets and eventually relapsed. Then I hit rock bottom. I was unemployed and homeless. I was tired, had lost a lot of weight and wasn't bathing.” Like many men at the Station, Cardell hit his breaking point. “I put on some nice clothes, even though I hadn't bathed in a month, and got on a bus. A little girl, about 10 years old sitting next to me said, ‘Mister, your clothes look nice, but you stink.' That comment really made me take a look at where I was heading,” reminisces Cardell.
Today, Cardell is on his journey of recovery. He holds a full-time job, is engaged to be married, is in the process of buying a house, has a driver's license and car, volunteers his time at his local PAL center, is active in his church and has decided to go back to another passion – playing the cello. “I love Classical music!” exclaims Cardell.
When asked what the South Baltimore Station gave to him, Cardell's face lights up. “They give you a chance to free yourself. They help take that ball and chain off your ankle and teach you how to live and survive in society.”
I came to The Baltimore Station (formerly the South Baltimore Homeless Shelter) in 1997, a 44-year-old man who was exhausted mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, after 30 years of active addiction to heroine and cocaine. Simply put, I was a mess. The Baltimore Station (TBS) helped me turn my life around. Today I’m the president of a successful pest control and renovation business. Most importantly, I’m living the truth of who I am. I’m here to tell you that TBS works, and I’m writing to ask for your assistance to ensure the continued growth of this important organization.
When I walked through the doors at TBS, my life had hit bottom. I was ready for a change, so I did what TBS’ program counselors asked – for over a month, I just sat and listened. And what I heard was something that I’d never heard before: to conquer my addiction, I needed to change everything – the way I thought, the way I acted, the way I believed. Simply stopping drugs was not enough.
I stayed at TBS for nine months. While still residing there, I went on a job interview with a national pest control company. For the first time in my life, I didn’t lie. When asked where I was living, I said, “I’m in an addiction recovery program. I’ve been un-manageable most of my life. But I’m a different person now.” I left that interview feeling freer than I had ever felt. I had told the truth, and I knew things would be different.
Of course, the manager didn’t call back. But I kept calling him, and I finally wore him down. He gave me a job at $8/hour. At the end of my first year, I won a trophy for the highest sales. After 18 months I was promoted to Assistant Manager.
My mission today is to let recovering addicts know that not only can they stay clean, but they can move on … and make a difference with what’s left of their lives. Since I left TBS, I’ve worked in pest control, served as director for a transitional housing program, and, as I’ve mentioned, I’m now running a pest control and renovation business. I am happily married five and am “Granddad” to my wife’s three grandchildren. Thanks to The Baltimore Station, I can share in their future.