Pride in Recovery with Harmony Foundation, Inc. CEO
OFM culture
Jim Geckler by Veronica L. Holyfield
T
he road to recovery from alcohol and drug addiction is difficult, and many addicts die from the disease, never getting the chance to live a life without the suffering and desperation. For 52 years, the Estes Park residential and outpatient program Harmony Foundation has helped a countless number of individuals obtain sobriety from drugs and alcohol. The 12-step, abstinence-based program is a variation approach of the Minnesota Model, a highly regarded treatment model which incorporates the original program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous and therapeutic practices, including doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The road to recovery from alcohol and drug addiction for LGBTQ folks is even more difficult, as there are unique challenges that the queer community faces that are different than their straight, cisgender counterparts. Harmony Foundation CEO Jim Geckler knows this fact as a gay man in recovery from addiction, and he has faced many of these challenges himself. “LGBTQ+ treatment has been a passion of mine for a long time,” Geckler says. “I went to an LGBTQ-specific treatment program for my first treatment; the two following were not a specific program. I know that there’s a need to have a safe place for people to be able to talk about LGBTQ issues; as a community, we have greater awareness of mental health issues and trauma issues than we find in a heterosexual community.” Using his firsthand experience as a guiding light, Geckler is genuine and honest in sharing his own history with alcohol and drugs, which started at the age of 12. By middle school, he had a bottle of alcohol hidden in his locker, and by high school, he was drinking almost daily. “I did every drug I could do, except for crystal meth, before I graduated from high school, and I did them in every way, except injecting them, before I graduated; that came later,” he explains. ”Unfortunately for my disease, I’m a bright guy, and I’m a pretty good actor, and I think some of that comes with being LGBTQ. As a young, gay boy, I knew I needed to hide.” Growing up in an Irish-Catholic church, he knew he needed to lie about who he was, so lying about drug use and drinking came easily. Geckler is also adopted, and grew up with the feeling of never fully being connected or a “part of.” Additionally, he is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, which also fueled his need to numb. “I was sexually abused for years by a Scoutmaster, so I also got the message that I can get approval from adults and acceptance by letting them do sexual things to me. At 16 years old, in Buffalo, NY, where the drinking age was 18 at the time, I was going out to gay bars, having sex with adults, and drinking and using. I thought it was fun. I did, I thought I was having a good time. And some of it was fun, but I didn’t see at the time how much damage was caused,” Geckler says. While in college, Geckler was unable to hold down a job and found himself in a significant relationship with a man named Bobby by his early 20s. Bobby took care of him, would drive when he was too drunk, would cover for him, and cleaned up the messes that Geckler found himself in. At the age of 25, Bobby had an aneurysm and died. 4 2 OFM M A Y 2 0 2 1
“As a young, gay boy, I knew I needed to hide.”
