Hickory man considered jail as option for help

By JENNIFER MENSTER
Record Staff Writer
Thursday, March 22, 2007

HICKORY - Ron Eddings says he’s at war with himself.

He indulges in alcohol and drugs even as he says he wants to shake the grip they have on him. He’s 47. Addiction has shadowed him since he was 28.
Two years ago, his world was not so bleak.

The Hickory Daily Record featured Eddings in a story on March 27, 2005.
Eddings was working on a new life. He served as student body president of Catawba Valley Community College. Just three years removed from jail, he was majoring in criminal justice.

He never finished the degree.

The first setback was a heart attack in February 2006. Bills piled up. Work was hard to find, especially for a convicted felon. Worthless check charges were filed against him. He was placed on probation in January.

Eddings turned to the bottle for comfort, a mistake that follows him today.
He says he needs help.

“No one told me I had a problem. I told myself,” Eddings said. “I told people I want to knock it off.”

But no one could help Eddings. Out of work and with no insurance, Eddings said he struggled to find a rehabilitation center that would take him in. He has a counselor at Alcohol and Drug Services in Hickory. He goes three nights a week.

Eddings says he is desperate. He is tired of hearing his wife crying in the bathroom as the bills pile up. He wants to help her. He knows he must first help himself.
Eddings went as far as considering going back to jail, figuring that was one sure way to get into a rehab program. Last week, Eddings was in court. He asked the judge to activate his 120-day suspended sentence.

The judge said he could activate the sentence, but there would be no guarantee Eddings would get into a rehab program since his latest arrest was not drug- or alcohol-related. Eddings didn’t want to sit in jail for 120 days without rehab. Once he got out, he said he’d be in the same situation.

“The more people that turn me down, the more determined I get,” he said. “You just got to, no matter what, get in your heart and self the determination by any means necessary to take your life back.”

Eddings is trying to rehab himself. He says he’s not had a drink in two months. He’s staying away from bars. He’s trying to find a job. And in his spare time, Eddings is writing poems. Eddings said he and his wife are currently in the process of publishing a book of poems and letters called, “This is Why We Cry.”

Eddings is like many convicted offenders. With no steady job and no insurance, it’s hard to get into rehab. It’s hard for them to get back on their feet.

“(That is) primarily because of depleted funds because of the substance abuse problem,” said Marvin Hewitt, executive director of the Flynn Home, a recovery halfway house for men. “Most have child support to pay and many haven’t had a job.”

Hewitt says most men and women with substance abuse problems can’t afford a rehab program. They enter by a court order. Black Mountain is one facility where offenders are sent.

Susan Smith, assistant executive director at Exodus Home, said Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous are strong programs in this area. Meetings can be found almost daily, and they don’t cost a thing, Smith said.

New Beginnings Church in Hickory and Christ United Methodist Church in Mountain View are at least two churches that offer Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program helping folks kick whatever addiction they have, but with the help of Jesus Christ.
Smith also recommends finding a good church to attend. For help in finding a job, Smith says Vocational Rehabilitation is a state agency that helps folks get back to work.

“If you realize you have a problem, you need to be helped the best way possible,” Hewitt said. “Every day these people stay sober and off drugs is a miracle. Rehab and the program here is life and death for these men.”

Eddings said he might try Celebrate Recovery, a program he never heard of before. He’s done AA meetings in the past, but he wants something more spiritual, he said.
Eddings knows he’s made mistakes in the past. He said he also knows he wants to overcome them.