SPRINGFIELD, Ky. — Months into drug and alcohol recovery some men are pursuing their GED.
For so many Kentucky's struggling with drug and alcohol addiction their abuse started at a young age. it certainly did for Joseph Bentley and other men he's met while living at the Crown Recovery Center in Springfield.
“Addiction took over their life young. Most of them here started in their teens and never stopped," Bentley explained.
As a recovering crack addict Bentley will tell you nothing about sobriety comes easy and even when you reach that point there’s the matter of picking up all the other pieces of your life. That's what the Addiction Recovery Care network of treatment facilities specializes in, recovery first and then rehabilitating men's life skills.
“Now that they are clean and sober they want to do something with their life and this is a way for them to not only get clean and sober, it’s a way to further their education.
Last year Crown entered a partnership with Elizabethtown Community College is helping Crown residents, men in recovery, purse their high school equivalency.
“They actually come here and bring their staff on campus several times a week and are teaching the GED classes to our clients," Crown's CEO John Wilson told Spectrum News 1. "It’s not just about finding sobriety. We need to make sure we’re giving people the skills to be successful when they leave here ... and the GED is obviously critical to that.”
The endeavor had 10 participants initially. JBentley was one of the first and at age 36 he received his GED. Bentley is now 8 months into recovery and currently in "Phase 4," of the Crown program which means his time at the 50-acre campus is nearing an end.
“I started to see I could really make difference in my life when I came to this facility here," Bentley said.
So empowered by receiving his GED Bentley is now helping other men pursue theirs.
"When I started here there was 10 people enrolled in and now there is 35 and I help the guys get to class and I help test them. I coordinate with the college to help them get them enrolled and get their paperwork turned over." Bentley says college is his goal now once he completes his time at Crown.
“It’s critical that when we get people clear of their addiction and they are in recovery and we’re going to send them back home we want them to be able to obtain good jobs and become tax paying citizens and buy homes," Wilson said.