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Recovery Raw: Walking people through recovery for five years
The way it was in prison.
Six words you won’t hear a former inmate say — at least not wistfully.
And yet for Eric Rippy — recovering painkiller addict, former felon, recovery coach, husband to Brooke, dad to Emmy — the words cross his lips quite often.
That was the model when Rippy founded Recovery Raw, the Greencastle-based recovery group and non-profit five years ago: He wanted to do recovery the way they did it in prison.
It was heavy on accountability and light on boundaries. And there was support for men going through the darkest times in their lives.
From that starting point came Recovery Raw’s tough but ultimately empowering motto: “We can’t drag you through recovery, but we will walk next to you.”
Rippy was confident in his vision, but after nearly five years, he couldn’t imagine how well the group is doing.
“For a guy that just has a GED to now have a non-profit and work for Duke Energy, I have to share it,” Rippy said.
That goes beyond the weekly 6:30 p.m. Thursday meetings at Lifebuilder Community Center, 703 E. Washington St., Greencastle.
Earlier this month, Recovery Raw hosted its inaugural benefit dinner.
While it wasn’t the same as a typical meeting, it did invite those in attendance into that world for a little bit, with four Recovery Raw success stories sharing their journeys through addiction and recovery.
First up was Dylan Lindsay, who credits wife Shelby, herself a recovering addict, with getting him involved with Recovery Raw.
“People say nothing good ever comes from addiction, but she’s the one good thing that came from mine,” Lindsey said.
He spoke to that “walk beside you” element of the program.
“If I feel like I’m going to lose my mind, I call one of these people,” Lindsay said. “If you come to Recovery Raw, we’ll become your best friends. We’ll root for you. We’ll watch your kids. One thing we’ll never do is hurt you.
“The bonds and relationships made at Recovery Raw are something I’ve never seen before.”
Next up was Taren Proctor, who described herself as being born into addiction.
“I knew no other way,” Proctor said. “I don’t say that as an excuse. I use that as a tool as I raise my children.”
She’s certainly looking for something different for them, admitting she began drinking at age nine, was into cocaine and methamphetamine by 14. She later had two failed marriages and a broken relationship with her son to show for it.
And then Rippy, “welcomed me like I had never been welcome anywhere before,” Proctor said. “I knew I was home.”
In getting clean, she began working on what “home” looked like, writing letters to a son who initially wanted nothing to do with her.
Even when she relapsed on alcohol, she remained loved at Recovery Raw.
And the work has begun paying dividends.
“My son is sitting here with me,” Proctor said. “My daughter’s here too.”
Her comments ended with both children and her husband walking onstage for a family embrace.
Like Proctor, Jonas Vance, the next speaker, was born into addiction.
“I broke a generational curse when I decided to come to Recovery Raw two years ago,” Vance said.
Vance described 30 years of partying, calling himself a “try addict.”
“I’ll try anything,” Vance said.
But for the last two years, he’s been “trying” recovery, and he likes the results thus far.
“I made a pinky promise to my wife, and I have not even slightly gone back on it,” Vance said.
Now he has a steady job with Shuee and Sons (saying Zach Shuee “threw me a lifeline”) and has a network of people he can count on in his darkest moments.
The night’s final speaker, Chasity Bradford, perhaps gave the most raw talk of the night, opening with an apology to her daughter before telling a tale of using, losing her kids, getting sober, getting them back and then losing them again.
Like anyone in recovery — or any human being who’s really honest — Bradford admitted she remains a work in progress.
“I’m not where I wanna be,” Bradford said, “but I’m heading in the right direction.”
In the right direction — that seems to be where Rippy sees Recovery Raw these days.
“We’ve had highs and lows,” Rippy told the Banner Graphic. “We’ve lost people who’ve been through those lows. We’ve had mothers and fathers get their kids back.”
Simultaneously humbled and proud of what the organization has accomplished, Rippy’s next goal is to give back to a community that’s been so supportive.
Among the most staunch supporters have been Shuee & Sons — Bill Shuee in particular — which has supported in countless ways; Jack’s Trash, which sponsors the annual New Year’s Eve lock-in; and dozens of others who have simply stopped Rippy and said, “What do you need?”
There’s also Lifebuilder Community Center, which has provided a home for nearly five years. As appreciative as Rippy is of having a home, his big goal — and one focus of the benefit dinner — is to find Recovery Raw a space of its own.
With such a space, Rippy said, the organization can not only have a bit more freedom about when it meets, but also be able to give back to the community with a meeting and celebration space for others.
Recovery Raw is also looking toward a family day at Lieber State Recreation Area and a big idea of taking its style of recovery to inmates.
“We’re going into the jails,” Rippy said. “I said I’d never go into the jail system — I promised my dad and my sister — but next Monday, I’m going to jail.”
That Monday has now come and gone, and it’s just another step on Rippy’s journey, as he takes advantage of the opportunity he’s been given.
“God opened the door for me, and I knew I had to do something outside,” Rippy said. “Nobody like me ever stayed outside.”