The Origin of CHARGE
by Gerald Butler
I started drinking at the age of 11 because it was the only way to quiet the voices I'd been hearing all my life. It was the 60s and little was known about chemical imbalances and mental illness. By age 14 I was an alcoholic and spent the next 33 years hopeless and homeless, dealing with two diseases, alcoholism, and mental illness. In early recovery I realized I lacked a basic sense of self-esteem, so I picked up the flute I used to play before getting really sick. I was amazed how the music not only elevated my self confidence, but also helped the healing process. I knew I had something that needed to be shared, so I called on other artists in recovery and started the Recovery Band to spread the message of hope.
Charlotta Gavin began attending our rehearsals at Michigan's Detroit East, as she always wanted to sing gospel. As artists in recovery we all knew the advantages of a positively charged environment, so we surrounded Charlotta with love and support. It was amazing watching her confidence grow right before our eyes, and soon she decided her recovery was more important than anything else. Today, Charlotta takes less medicine and has a great job as a peer specialist.
Seeing the effects of our efforts with Charlotta and other consumers, I formed the Center of Healing Arts, Recovery, Guidance, and Empowerment. The word Guidance was quickly replaced with Growth as we realized our environment was one where people would take charge of their own lives. The most anyone can do is support people in their self-improvement journeys. Since CHARGE does not conduct treatment, it was imperative to establish an atmosphere where a person's talents and abilities would drive the program—not his or her illness. So we moved into an old car factory that had been converted to an artist's Mecca called "The Russell Street Bazaar." The Bazaar provided a creative, positive space for thousands of professional and amateur artists. Our band began doing gigs for the artists. In exchange, they worked with our folks.
Around this time, the Michigan Department of Community Health introduced Dr. Priscilla Ridgway's "Recovery Enhanced Environment." Finally, there was a name and description for what we were doing. The CHARGE recovery-centered environment is a setting where peers and people in recovery can connect. In my conversations with Dr. Ridgway, she stressed the importance of keeping the very thought of treatment out of our program. Treatment happens when we work with staff during early stages of the healing process. Recovery is a very personal journey where we begin to take charge of our own lives. No one can dispute the healing powers of a peer-run, recovery-centered environment.
Human Characteristics in Recovery
About 75 percent of adults who have a mental illness experienced its onset before their teenage years. Instead of learning life lessons during that crucial time of development, many of us were dealing with our disease. Valuable lessons such as making complex decisions, setting priorities, forming strategies, organizing plans, and building relationships are learned in adolescence. The lack of these traits can often be mistaken as illness-related in clinical settings. Thus, it is imperative that when a person has reached the fourth and fifth stages of recovery, he or she is exposed to growth-centered environments before considering an independent life in society. It is at this juncture that very basic human characteristics come into play.
How CHARGE Works
The human psyche enables people to adapt to almost any situation, regardless of how bleak things may seem. Prior to treatment, many of us built our lives around hopelessness. In some ways, hopelessness can become a comfort zone. We know how it feels when someone encourages us to leave that comfort zone only to discover that what was promised was only an attempt to make the program seem as if it truly had our best interests at heart. CHARGE is not an arts program, but a very simple, honest collective of folks sharing their recovery experiences with people contemplating treatment and striving for independence. Thanks to the efforts of Michigan's Department of Community Health, the State is in an ideal position to be a national model of what a recovery-centered State should look like.
We work closely with the Michigan Recovery Council, Michigan Disabilities Rights Coalition, various centers for mental health, and many community-based organizations. There are clear differences between clinical and recovery-centered environments, and peers have a true understanding of the healing process, having walked in the shoes of those seeking recovery. Peer specialists and staff must have a mutual respect for each other's values, working as a team to ensure consumers get the best of both in their recovery journeys.
Gerald Butler, founder and director of CHARGE, is a Certified Peer Specialist and the 2007 Michigan Department of Community Health "Person of Interest" Award recipient. Contact him at gbutler503@comcast.net.
CHARGE made RTP!!! Congrats to Gerald.