The Therapeutic Power of Community

the Therapeutic Power of

Community b y C o u rtn y B . D avis O lds P H O T O G R A P HY B Y J O N A T H A N O L S H E F S K I

How a recover y comm u nit y flo u ris h es in a neig h bor h ood renowned for addiction

Sister Margaret McKenna didn’t set out to start an addiction recovery program. She and two other Medical Mission Sisters intended to form a community dedicated to nonviolence and hospitality in North Philadelphia, where they purchased a rundown building in 1989. They incorporated under the name “New Jerusalem Laura”—“New Jerusalem” in honor of the biblical city where pain and suffering have ceased and life is abundant; “Laura” from the Greek word meaning hermitage or monastery. Their community was short-lived, however; after working for a year to renovate the building, they disbanded.

Sister Margaret says that while their intentions were good, they were naive about the neighborhood in which they had decided to start their hermitage community.

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Preceding page left: Sister Margaret accompanies a community member to court.

Right: New Jerusalem members enjoy a day in the community courtyard.

North Philly—a sprawling, densely populated urban area located just north of the historic and commercial center of Philadelphia—is, unfortunately, best known for crime, poverty, and drugs. Nearly half of the area’s residents have an income that falls below the poverty line.1 Some of the city’s most blatant drug-dealing takes place in North Philly.2 And while no area is immune to crime and violence, a large percentage of the murders committed in Philadelphia in 2008 took place in North Philly.3 Given the realities of life in North Philadelphia, the most logical thing for Sister Margaret to do following the disbanding of her community was to relocate. Instead, she decided to stay. And she decided to learn as much as she could about what she saw as the neighborhood’s most serious problem: drug addiction.

The majority of Sister Margaret’s education came by way of the Reverend Henry Wells and his North Philadelphia

advanced recovery and recovery for people who had relapsed back into addiction. She decided to do something about it.

That’s how New Jerusalem Laura, which originally had been intended as a community of nonviolence and hospitality, became the recovery community of New Jerusalem Now (NewJerusalemNow.org).

Within the context of New Jerusalem, recovery does not simply mean being drug-free. It also includes the process of becoming “healthy, independent, and socially responsible.”4 Recovery is personal, spiritual, psychological, social, and economic; it is “recovery from mind-altering chemicals” and “recovery from all obstacles to the fullness of human life.”5 In other words, recovery is holistic.

The emphasis on community makes New Jerusalem unique among addiction recovery programs. Participants in the program aren’t simply clients of the organization or consumers of services. Instead, they are members with responsi-

New Jerusalem members tend to their in-house vegetable garden, sharing excess harvest with their surrounding neighbors.

Sister Margaret shares a quiet moment with one of the residents.

Strong relationships are an important component of recovery.

grassroots addiction recovery program, One Day at a Time (odaat.us). Sister Margaret says that she was something of an “oddball” in One Day at a Time—she was the only nun, the only woman, and the only Euro-American affiliated with the organization. She found a place, however, working in prisons and with the Alternatives to Violence Project (avpusa.org).

And she found that One Day at a Time volunteers were willing to help her finish the renovations on the New Jerusalem building.

As Sister Margaret became more knowledgeable about addiction and recovery in North Philadelphia, she recognized two needs that were not being met by existing programs:

bilities and commitments.They live in community, recover in community, and seek to help the greater North Philadelphia community recover as well.“Community,” says Sister Margaret, “is a very powerful therapeutic tool.”6 New Jerusalem bases its recovery programs on the five pillars of the grassroots recovery movement. The first is that addict-to-addict recovery models are more effective and empowering than academic approaches. Second, that solidarity in recovery involves mutual responsibility, support, and correction. Third, that spiritual growth is a necessary component of recovery from addiction. Fourth, that unlike a medical or institutional recovery program, a family-like

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recovery community can provide training and skills needed to stay clean in a drug-infested neighborhood. And fifth, that recovery includes helping the society that fed the addiction recover as well.

Sister Margaret sums up the philosophy behind New Jerusalem’s recovery programs when she writes, “Recovery is about the radical change from death to life, from darkness to light, from self-will to God’s will. It involves the mystery of conversion and the aspiration to fullness of life in God. It requires risk and mutual support and the sharing of practical spirituality and wisdom. God must be the sole principle of this new way of life, this reordering of chaos.”7 New Jerusalem has grown since its inception, both in membership and number of programs. Community members now reside in three houses: Miriam House, for women in the advanced recovery program; Joseph House, for men in the advanced recovery program; and the poignantly

Current house members interview all potential new members to determine if they are a good fit for the community and if they exhibit the sincerity and dedication needed for recovery. And established members of Peter House walk— literally and figuratively—with new members during the initial stages of recovery.

Because the members of Peter House have a history of relapse, their recovery program is highly structured. New members commit to a 60-day “blackout” period in which they have no contact with family or friends, are accompanied at all times by another member, and devote all their energy to their physical and spiritual health through participation in drug counseling, Bible study, community service, and Alternatives to Violence Project workshops. While isolating the individual from family and friends may seem harsh, it is often a necessary step in the recovery process. Old habits are hard to break unless a drastic change of environment

Giving back to the larger community is part of the healing process; members volunteer at several food distribution centers.

Discipline: a community member who fails to call in when on weekend leave must wear two phones on his body for a week.

named Peter House, for addicts whose recovery has a history of being interrupted by relapses. A fourth house, in which New Jerusalem began, serves as a residence for staff, administrative offices, and gathering space. A fifth house, which will expand the advanced recovery program, is under construction.

Although New Jerusalem outlines basic rules that all members must follow (drugs, violence, theft, or sexual activity in any New Jerusalem facility is grounds for automatic dismissal), community members in each of the houses are largely responsible for their house’s rules and functioning.

Members of each house are designated as house managers.

or circumstance occurs. After a successful blackout period, members are permitted to reestablish contact with family and friends, if they so choose, and to begin part-time employment. They are also given a key to the house, symbolizing both the freedom and responsibility with which they have been entrusted.

After six months of successful involvement in Peter House, and only with the support of their peers, individuals who wish to continue in the advanced recovery program can transition to Miriam House or Joseph House. Here members are encouraged to work full-time, pursue educational goals, reunite with family, and make other preparations

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that will provide a foundation for their continued stability and health. Most people in advanced recovery stay for one year before transitioning out of the recovery community.

But, says Sister Margaret, “They can stay as long as they are working on their goals, abiding by the rules, and participating in community.”

While “community” at New Jerusalem most obviously means those in the recovery programs,“community” also means the larger North Philadelphia neighborhood in which New Jerusalem is located. Community service is an integral part of New Jerusalem’s recovery programs. Each afternoon, New Jerusalem members devote several hours to making a difference in the neighborhood by working at one of several food distribution programs, organizing neighborhood recycling initiatives, beautifying the neighborhood through trash collection and a mural project, and facilitating Alternatives to Violence Projects. During the warmer months, New Jerusalem hosts cookouts and picnics for the neighborhood and shares the excess harvest from their garden with area residents.

New Jerusalem also partners with other local community organizations to bring to the neighborhood programs on parenting, smoking cessation, holistic nutrition, and spirituality.

Sister Margaret says that these small acts and the commitment to service that prompts them are essential to recovery. They keep members connected to the larger community while changing the relationship they had with it while they were addicted. Instead of looking at what they can get from the neighborhood, members see what they can give back and how they can make a difference.

Former community members also find ways to give back to New Jerusalem. And the neighborhood community finds ways to give back as well. Most referrals to New Jerusalem’s recovery programs come from alumni or through word of mouth from someone who knows about the community.

Neighbors sometimes drop by to say hello to Sister Margaret, see how the community is doing, and ask what they can bring to the next cookout. Alumni occasionally donate their time to work with New Jerusalem’s garden or biodiesel project.

Sometimes neighbors or alumni relapse in their recovery and become community members again. That doesn’t bother Sister Margaret, though. “Anyone who needs help and asks for it deserves it,” she says.8 Given Sister Margaret’s penchant for meeting needs wherever she finds them, it is not surprising that New Jerusalem has plans to expand in the future. The community would like to start an outpatient treatment center for counseling and recovery addiction, as well as forge a partnership with the City of Philadelphia to help former addicts transition successfully out of prison. Such projects would be incomegenerating projects for New Jerusalem—currently, the com-

Sister Margaret with Sister Goretti (right), who, after living and working at New Jerusalem for five years, recently returned to her native India when she couldn’t get her visa renewed.

munity survives on members’ modest $140 monthly rent, which covers only a third of the cost of the recovery programs, and both financial and in-kind donations. But the driving force behind the expansion is the desire to meet a need and to make a difference.

The story of New Jerusalem brings to mind J. Hudson Taylor’s maxim about the three stages of every great work of God: “First it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.” Establishing an addiction recovery community in a neighborhood known for addiction must have seemed impossible. But New Jerusalem has succeeded in doing a great work of God in North Philadelphia. That gives hope that their seemingly impossible expansion plans will become a reality as well.

New Jerusalem Now has made a difference in countless lives since the community’s unexpected start. From assisting former addicts in establishing a firm foundation for continued stability and health, to giving a second chance at recovery to relapsed addicts, New Jerusalem has offered something that many in North Philadelphia desperately need: hope. n Learn more and get involved at NewJerusalemNow.org.

(Editor’s note: due to space limitations, the endnotes for this article have been posted at esa-online.org/Endnotes.)

Courtny B. Davis Olds is graduating with a master’s degree in theological studies from Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa, where she has worked as a Sider Scholar for the last two years.

Jonathan Olshefski is a photographer/filmmaker who seeks to give voice to the unseen and overlooked in Philadelphia’s urban landscape.

To see/hear more stories go to WhispersintheStorm.com and MyFaerieStory.com.

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