After witnessing a steady increase in drug-addicted men being committed to prison, two San Quentin inmates set a goal: create a certified drug treatment counselor-training program and cultivate peer counselors.
Launching new prison programs always has bureaucratic hurdles but Rusty Trunzo and Dennis Pratt succeeded in overcoming those challenges with the help of Christian Institute.
With support from Sam Lawrence of Christian Institute, Addiction Recovery Counseling (ARC) began at S.Q.
Chaplain Earl Smith assisted by approving use of the Protestant Chapel every Friday.
Sponsor Kelvis Love began the first session in 2005, using seven instructional modules created by Christian Institute.
Immediately, the program was jeopardized when hurricane Katrina forced Love to go to New Orleans to help his family.
Claire Elizabeth DeSophia agreed to become Program Director and brought Sara Wilds of the STAND UP Program as a sponsor.
After completion of the first module, the program was again in jeopardy with no qualified person available to continue the students’ educational endeavor.
ARC found a fully certified California Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CAADAC) member, who is an H-Unit inmate, to continue teaching the class within the prison population. This example gave the men seeking to become CAADAC certified themselves a boost of confidence, after seeing a fellow prisoner actually doing what they aspired to do.
Richard Baez, the current Program Director of ARC says, “That the theory and reality of this program was that it would make more sense to have prisoners run the ARC program. Prisoners have more insight on how to deal with other prisoners, and they can better relate the reality of their particular situation.”
Other drug treatment programs inside and outside of prison have caught wind of ARC and have donated time, energy and resources to the success of the program.
Laura E. Bowman, Community Partnership Manager, for the last five years, is instrumental in connecting ARC with volunteers in the local community. She credits former S.Q. Warden Robert Ayers for allowing ARC’ existence.
“Warden Ayers is wise beyond his years for listening to the men who introduced this program that changed the lives of a lot of men.”
Trunzo has since been paroled.
