Testimonial

Finding the words to describe a building is simple, but to find the words to describe a place that has changed the lives of thousands upon thousands of people is almost impossible.  The infamous "White Building" was torn down nearly 2 years ago, but its place in our hearts can never be destroyed.  I first felt its touch in 1994, when I came to the Palmer Drug Abuse Program in desperate need of help.  I was 16 at the time, beaten down and feeling completely hopeless and helpless.  What I found within those rickety old walls was simply a miracle.  I received what no amount of drugs, no therapist, and no treatment center could ever give me.  What was it that I was given?  To answer this question is an even harder task.  If you've ever felt the weight of the world lifted off your shoulders, if you've ever felt what you thought was impossible to be accomplish be accomplished, if you've ever felt yourself be completely transformed, then you know what it feels like.  I, like many other recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, was given a new life.  St. Thomas provided us with an environment for change.  Within those walls I found friendship, unconditional love, and hope.  The first time I stepped in the building, the floor creaked, the pool table wobbled, and it was difficult to see the other side of the room through the smoke.  But what I felt was the newness of the life I was about to begin.  Through the countless hours of PDAP groups and meetings, Saturday night hang-outs, counseling sessions, AA meetings, and those periods of absolute serenity found while hanging out under trees, next to cars with obnoxiously loud music pouring from its windows, or sitting on the back porch talking with friends who soon would become family.  Over time, the building deteriorated.  The graffiti murals and paint began to peel, the lights would flicker and go out never to come on again, and the rodents claimed our building as their own.  Countless times maintenance workers, as well as people cutting through the parking lot, would stop and convey to us their disbelief that the building was still standing while hinting at the fact that they, too called this building home years ago.  Hope arose out of the news of a new building that would replace the old "White Building".  We could count the days, watching the construction of the new building.  Moving became almost a joke due to the fact that everything heavy and of value had been stolen.  Then the day came!  It felt like winning the lottery.  New offices, new AC, new lights, new windows, new paint, bathrooms with doors, and something we hadn't seen for years, carpet.  Working closer to other programs and agencies, we began to meet others who shared the same mission as PDAP, to simply help others.  We may never be able to  fully express the appreciation we feel for the new building.  It is simply a blessing.  But the old "White Building" will never leave our hearts.  It was, to put it poetically, an oasis of hope and healing.  It was a place that many, especially I, found God.  When I drive down Bateswood, it's hard to picture what it used to be like, but I will always remember what transformations took place there.  The next time you're passing by, look at what now is a grassy clearing next to the parking lot and playground and think about what that building meant to you.

-Phil Barton-
-Group Coordinator - Palmer Drug Abuse Program -