Credo success story reason to celebrate

EDITOR'S NOTE: September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, and the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services is asking recovering addicts to share their stories in an effort to help others break from addiction. This is the story of one Brownville native who turned his life around.

Ward N. Kinne was nothing but "hell on wheels" while growing up, if you ask his father, Brownville resident William E. Kinne.

By the time his son was in high school, he was heavily into drugs such as LSD and mescaline, a psychedelic drug found in some cactus plants. Never would the elder Mr. Kinne have believed that his son, now 59, would be sober for 28 years.

"He was kind of a wild animal there, and we really didn't know how to deal with it when it first came to light in the '70s," William Kinne, 79, said. "It was something unusual for us."

The Kinne family had several members who drank, some excessively, but Ward Kinne's drug addiction was a whole new world to the entire family. Mr. Kinne said he started abusing alcohol and marijuana when he was in eighth grade, at age 14. From there, he got into harder drugs.

Focused on getting high and not on having a good report card, Mr. Kinne began a destructive lifestyle with criminal activity. He said he graduated from General Brown High School, but barely.

"To this day I think they helped me out of there, like they didn't want me back," Mr. Kinne said via telephone from Kansas last week.

He was arrested in 1980 for burglary, and again in 1981 for trespassing and possession of a controlled substance, when he had LSD in his possession. The second time he was arrested, he went to jail.

"That very night I got out of jail, I snuck out of my parents' house and did drugs with the same guy I was running with before I went in," Mr. Kinne said. "At that time, probation was talking to Credo (a male residential treatment facility in Watertown) about me and no one told me any of that."

He then had two choices: go to jail for one year on the burglary charge, or seek treatment at Credo. He chose the latter only to avoid jail time, but said he found a new meaning to life while he was there.

Mr. Kinne's been sober since April 29, 1981.

CREDO CHANGES A LIFE

The positive reinforcement he received from staff at Credo's male residential facility in Pamelia, called "the farm," was enough to change his life. He said he kicked his drug habit, got physically healthy and found a relationship with God that has helped him the past 28 years of his sobriety.

"Early on it was hard, I won't kid you about that," he said.

With a fresh attitude, Mr. Kinne left the Credo facility. He later attended Jefferson Community College, met his wife and held steady jobs, and he is now the owner of Heritage Advisors LLC, a financial advisory firm in Overland Park, Kan.

He credits his success to Credo, and employees such as James P. Scordo, the agency's executive director. Mr. Kinne was the first person Mr. Scordo admitted to the agency when he was in charge of admissions in the 1980s.

"What a way to start off in the field to have a success story like that," Mr. Scordo said. "It gives me the motivation to continue."

It was actually Mr. Scordo himself and all of the agency employees who gave Mr. Kinne and his family the motivation to get better, Mr. Kinne said.

"Credo really helped my family," he said. "With my mom, I was sober about eight years, and we did an intervention with her. She got sober 20 years ago, and then my dad stopped drinking too, and my sister stopped drinking."

His family has well more than 50 years combined sobriety. Sharing their stories helps them not only in their recovery, Mr. Kinne said, but also helps others.

"I think we owe it to people to share our story," he said. "People need to see that you can change. Selfishly, I need to tell my story regularly to keep it fresh. I know today I can't drink; I know that."

SHARE THE STORY

Sharing stories of sobriety is what the state commissioner of the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services has been trying to do during September, which is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. People in recovery can visit the Web site iamrecovery.com for more information on how to submit their story.

Mr. Kinne said he believes addicts sharing their stories of recovery can inspire other recovering addicts to stay on the straight and narrow.

"Most people don't stay sober completely drug and alcohol free after their first rehab experience, and I don't know why God picked me," Mr. Kinne said. "Anyone that's really in recovery gets it that we're one bad decision away from disaster. If someone has relapsed and has gone into treatment and fallen down and got back up and fallen down again, the key is to try to continue to do well."

Part of his recovery is keeping in contact with the young men who are placed in Credo. When Mr. Kinne comes back to the area, about once a year, he makes it a point to visit with those men in treatment.

Mr. Kinne said he will keep the promise to stay sober he made to his mother, Gladys M "Frenchie" Lucas Kinne, even after her Sept. 2 death.

The elder Mr. Kinne said he couldn't be more proud of who his son has become since seeking treatment nearly three decades ago.

"I'm kind of proud of him for pulling himself away from it," he said. "It's not an easy process, but the ripple effect is amazing."

ON THE NET

I am Recovery: www.iamrecovery.com