Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 14, 2022 News, Special Person
With over two decades of sustained service to people struggling with substance abuse…
“I can still recall his final plead, ‘Samantha, I know you have your profession, but please keep the doors of Phoenix open, many addicts will come in need of the help.’ To date, I can attest to this.”
By Rehanna Ramsay
Kaieteur News – Having to watch someone you love struggle with alcohol and drug addiction can be devastating, but what is even worse is having to watch those persons lose their lives to substance abuse. It can be downright heartbreaking.
In this week’s ‘Special Person’, Samantha Young, an anti-substance abuse advocate and co-founder of the Phoenix Recovery Project – a local rehab facility located at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) – gives a little insight into what that is like.
Though she has never used or abused any psychoactive substances herself, Young has been surrounded by addicts for most of her life. She shared that her father and three of her siblings were all substance abusers.
Her father who died when she was 12 was an alcoholic and three of her siblings; (two brothers and one sister) later succumbed to similar complications as a result of illicit drug abuse.
Young said though her relatives have all passed on, the unpleasant memories of watching their lives consumed by addiction continues to impact her life and work. The advocate said this is what led her and her late husband, Clarence Young, who himself struggled with addiction to establish the drug rehab facility.
She noted that her later husband, a Trinidadian by birth, had been a force behind the introduction and implementation of substance abuse rehab services in Guyana.
“Clarence was very instrumental in laying the foundation for treatment in Guyana in the area of substance misuse. He designed and implemented the Salvation Army Men’s Treatment Programme,” she said, noting that when he decided to launch the Phoenix Recovery Project in 2000, they started by opening their own home which was located at Hadfield Street, Lodge to treat recovering drug addicts. She recalled that the project moved to the Sparendaam/Plaisance area on the ECD before finally occupying the current building at Mon Repos.
Mrs. Young said that since then, the Phoenix Recovery project has assisted hundreds of Guyanese struggling with substance abuse get off and stay off drugs.
She shared how she balances life between her duties as an accountant for the Marian Academy School, Phoenix’s co-founder as well as the mother of her two children, Jahleel and Jahrier. Young credits the successes of the Phoenix Recovery Project to the dedicated staff, team members, and supporters.
CORE VALUES
Young, a product of the late Hubert and Rita Prince, grew up at Public Road Kitty, Georgetown with her father, also a Trinidadian by birth, and a mason/contractor by profession, and a Guyanese mother who was a housewife.
“I am the last of 12 children, I had three brothers and I was the last of nine girls. However, due to death, I now have four siblings; three sisters and one brother,” Young said.
During those years, she attended the JE Burnham Primary School in Kitty, then went on to St. Joseph’s High School where she completed her secondary education.
Young noted that her love for accounting later led her to pursue a career in that field and attaining CAT, ACCA Graduate certificates.
Growing up in a large family, she said, taught her some core values of life. “I learnt to be patient and contented, never demanding but understanding why my parents could not afford some of what I wanted. We were always encouraged to embrace Godly values, I came from a family, of practising Anglicans,” she said.
She added, “However, at the age of 12, I joined and was baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist Church, where I am currently a member of – Smyrna SDA Church on Public Road, Kitty. The SDA Church through its biblical teachings and youth empowerment programmes has aided me greatly into the person I am today.”
She noted too that among the core values she learned at an early age is how to be accountable. “My mother was known to be the woman of Proverbs, very famous for quoting; one such of her favourite quote was ‘A little bit of fun, can cause a lifetime of pain’,” she recalled.
As a result, if she went playing with her friends as a child, at the end of that fun time before going home, Young ensured that her ribbons and other hair accessories were intact since any missing items had their consequences.
She reflected, “Over the years, I have seen the effects of pain, as some of my siblings died at a young age due to “a bit of fun and [bad choices].”
A DYING REQUEST
The early death of her father and siblings is the driving force behind her efforts to keep offering a treatment service that gives people a second chance at life; something she says was not available locally back then.
She said, “My passion since I was unable to get the much-needed help for my siblings, I decided I would lend all the support to my husband in helping others. As this was in my view the best therapy for him to keep sober.” Young said when her husband proposed starting the project, they did not even name it until five years after.
She related, “We had therapy sessions in our home but it was always my late husband’s dream to open a facility. When he was in recovery, he was encouraged to write his goals, one of them was to open a rehab facility. He drew a picture of the phoenix (a mythical bird) rising from the ashes and he said he would call it Phoenix Recovery… But he actually forgot about it until we were on vacation at his mom’s house in Trinidad and we found the drawing while cleaning, that’s how the project was registered under the name Phoenix Recovery.”
After about a decade of establishing the project, tragedy struck the family once more. She recalled that it was August 2017 that her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and by October 2017, he was gone. Young said it was indeed a difficult time for the family and the facility that so many people were depending on to offer them recovery treatment.
With the death of her husband, who ran the facility while she worked as an accountant, Young said she was tempted to give up and focus on her career.
She, nevertheless, persevered since it was her husband’s dying request.
She said, “I can still recall his final plead, ‘Samantha, I know you have your profession, but please keep the doors of Phoenix open, many addicts will come in need of the help.’ To date, I can attest to this.”
Young says this dying wish has kept her motivated over these years.
Additionally, she said, “Phoenix fills a void for many people struggling with substance since it is possibly one of three places offering this kind of service to the public.”
PHOENIX
To date, Phoenix is a recipient of a national award – The Medal of Service, which the project was granted in May 2011. As part of her daily activities, Young oversees the project, while her two now, adult children both students at the University of Guyana, manage the day-to-day activities at the facility.
Young noted, nonetheless, that there are a number of challenges to providing rehab services in Guyana. She explained that “no two days at Phoenix are the same…You have to understand the clients you are working with and address their needs individually. Lack of adequate human resources and inadequate financing has been a hindrance in the quality of service we would like to offer.”
She continued, “The cost for a client in treatment is in no comparison to what is charged. However, we are grateful for the government’s subvention and donations of food items from a few loyal stakeholders. The project depends on the subvention and donations from those who access the service but we anticipate better days to come.”
Additionally, Young said that the support from the Phoenix Recovery Project board members has been overwhelming over the years. The co-founder constantly reflects on the early stages of Phoenix and how far it has come.
She noted that, “during the years when the programme was in our home, the clients used the same washroom/bathroom with my family. I did the cooking for the household. Many of my friends questioned if I was of sound mind, as the stigma attached to persons using drugs is no easy load to carry.”
She continued, “My two children (son and daughter) grew up in and were part of the programme for many years. With our assistance, clients in recovery who were out of communication with their children were able to develop a bond that later unite them with their own children.”
Touching on her other commitments, Young told this publication that she has been employed at Marian Academy as an accountant since 1998 to now. Like Phoenix, she said, it has been a privilege over the years to be part of Marian’s growth, challenges, and success.
“I enjoy the interaction with my work peers, parents, and students and have maintained a good relationship and respect over the years. But one of my greatest joys is Phoenix, seeing a client through recovery to his/her positive re-integration into society having been united with their loved, one is a feeling like no other!” declared Young.
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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