02-23-2022 Primetime Living - Flipbook - Page 28
28 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, February 23, 2022
VOLUNTEERING
It’s about hope
Volunteering your time at
Helping Up Mission
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
M
Newly opened Center for Women & Children
ost of us, at some point in our lives, have been touched by addiction and/ effectiveness.
or mental health issues. It may be a family member, a friend, a colleague,
a neighbor. We don’t talk about it, but it’s more ubiquitous than we realize.
Sometimes, however, it’s out in the open, like when we drive down the street and see
those camped out in doorways or curled in a ball or pushing a grocery cart. The path
to health is difficult at best. If you’re experiencing homelessness, it’s almost impossible.
Helping Up Mission offers the solution at their campus on East Baltimore
Street in Baltimore City. The men’s program takes place at 1029 E. Baltimore
and the new Center for Women and
Children is at 1216 E. Baltimore Street.
“Addiction, as it has for so many,
affected me personally,” Robert Gehman,
Chief Executive Officer of Helping Up
Mission, explains. “When I was a pastor,
I learned my wife struggled with alcohol.
That sent me down a path of reading books, joining Al-Anon, and learning about addictions and the difficulties
those who suffer have with trying to get
sober.”
Photo from helpingupmission.org
Since 1885, well over a century,
“Helping Up Mission (HUM) provides
hope to people experiencing homelessness, poverty or addiction by meeting
their physical, psychological, social and
spiritual needs.”
In 1994, almost 28 years ago, HUM,
too, was struggling. Although its reputation was excellent, donors were dwindling, which limited the good HUM could
provide. When the executive director
resigned, Gehman was tapped to come
on board. Now, along with his team
of senior directors, many of whom are
graduates of HUM’s program, Gehman
has revitalized and strengthened HUM’s
“When I first came here, we only
served men. I started a 12-step group,”
Gehman relates, “but one question stayed
with me: how do homeless people struggling with addiction get healthy? What’s
the path they need to take? Back then,
there were no guidelines. We decided to
ask our ‘patients’ for their input. With that
information in hand, we eliminated what
didn’t work and strengthened what did.”
What did HUM learn? In order to
recover, the program needed to be residential so the people HUM serves were
faced with fewer temptations, could stay
focused on the future and good outcomes, and feel safe. As with other
12-step programs, a higher power was
important to them.
The Recovery Program
Gehman describes the process of
treating addictions. “We try to bring the
best of faith and best of science together
because both are really important. First,
we want people to stop using, to gain
sobriety. Once you start using drugs, you
stop growing emotionally. Drug addiction
stops your growth. Our slogan is ‘if you
don’t grow, you gotta go.’ So, with sobriety, they’re able to grow once more.
“Second, they need to take time to
develop a personal view of a new future.
Maybe it’s a lost career, maybe it’s something completely new. But they have to
figure out what they really want. Third,
they need to be physically, emotionally
and mentally sound. Having a therapeutic
community creates a supportive environment. Everyone who works or lives here
wants them to succeed.”
With Hope, There’s Always a Next Step
Over 20 years ago, HUM implemented
the Spiritual Recovery Program it’s known
for today. Everything their clients need
is under one roof – food, clothing and
shelter. “We used to send them out for
medical and mental health appointments,
another part of the equation,” Gehman
says, “but today, it all takes place on site.
Johns Hopkins Hospital has five full-time
mental health counselors and five drug
Volunteering, continued on page 35
