The PARC Times Issue 1

VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 1

THE PARC TIMES

FALL / WINTER 2017

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM THE PEER ALLIANCE RECOVERY CENTER

A LETTER FROM PARC… Welcome to the first edition of THE P.A.R.C. TIMES and welcome to the Peer Alliance Recovery Center. We are the first Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Service (OASAS) funded center to be opened in Queens, New York.

We opened our doors April 2017 and we offer free recovery support and services to the surrounding community. We welcome you with open arms to connect with recovery at our center. This monthly newsletter will bring you all the latest news and views about your recovery. Our aim with this newsletter is to keep you informed of: •

Recovery Coach Training

•

Peer-to-Peer Support

•

Social Activities

•

Vocational Services

•

Upcoming Events

•

Stories of Triumph

We want to hear from you! Tell us your stories of recovery. Send us your submissions through art, literature, poetry, coping skills you wish to share. It is our mission to build a relationship with you, the reader!

Sincerely, .Laurie Lieberman & Jessica Feliciano

OUR TEAM!

PEER ALLIANCE RECOVERY - CENTER STAFF

ADMINISTRATION: Tino Hernandez President, C.E.O. John Iammatteo C.F.O./Senior Vice President Sheila Greene Vice President, Communications Roy Kearse Vice President, Recovery Services & Community Partnerships PARC STAFF: Laurie Lieberman Jessica Feliciano Breon Hopkins Tonya Chestnut Nazmoon Prithwipaul

Program Director Project Coordinator Senior Recovery Coach Recovery Coach Recovery Coach

VISION TEAM MEMBERS: Nazmoon Prithwipaul Laura Caputo Paul Lomax Dave Wilson Kevin Stewart Mark Levine

Chairperson Co-Chairperson Managing Editor Creative Director Contributor Member-at-Large

UGLY SWEATER PARTY Thursday, December 21st 5:30-8pm

RECOVERY COACH TRAINING

PEER ETHICS TRAINING

“Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better...”

PARC ACTIVITIES, DECEMBER 2017

Connect with us! parc@samaritanvillage.org TEL: 917.244.1445 92-13 147th Place Lower Level Jamaica, NY 11435 P.A.R.C., A part of Samaritan Daytop Village Family

ART FOR OUR RECOVERY

EXQUISITE WORLD CUISINE SERVED AT THANKSGIVING POT LUCK! The culinary multi-cultural chefs of the Peer Alliance Recovery Center cooked up a feast this year at their annual Thanksgiving Pot Luck Dinner!

The event, {held on Tuesday November 21st } was filled with home-made delicious delights such as spicy Ghanaian Chicken curry, barbeque jerked chicken, Malaysian noodles with shrimp, creamy mac n’ cheese, corn bread, Jamaican white rice, and sweet potatoes followed up with apple and pumpkin pie for dessert.

“We wanted to serve foods from all the world this year! Everyone who cooked something comes from a different country and a different culture and we wanted to show-off all of the diversity!” Program Coordinator Jessica Feliciano told The PARC Times.

“Getting together with our family and celebrating with good food is an important part of recovery, and I want to thank everyone who helped and took part in this years’ event,” Added Ms. Feliciano.

Bradley Clymer, an assistant cook at the Samaritan Village Van Wyck kitchen was impressed with all the different foods and said, “I really liked the Malaysian noodles with the shrimps! I’ve never had that before!”

Over thirty people trekked down to the PARC dining hall in Jamaica, Queens to celebrate Thanksgiving and to socialize with friends, peers and to make new pals.

Van Wyck Senior C.O.D. Stephen Nieves added “I enjoyed everything! The jerked chicken was the best and everyone there made us really welcome!”

- Paul Lomax

Connect with us! parc@samaritanvillage.org TEL: 917.244.1445 92-13 147th Place Lower Level Jamaica, NY 11435 P.A.R.C., A part of Samaritan Daytop Village Family

LEGENDARY LATIN MOBSTER IS A HIT AT VAN WYCK HALLOWEEN BASH! “Flaco”, the notorious Latin gangland kingpin whacked all his rivals to take the top prize at this years’ Samaritan Village Halloween Costume contest – hiding behind the cunning disguise was a triumphant John Z.– The PARC Times very own movie critic!

Speaking after the hard fought contest the hard-nosed Mr. Z. told The PARC Times, “Yo! I feel very humbled nailing the top prize! I wanna’ thank everyone who I told to vote for me! Ya’ all know who you are?!”

Following “El Flaco” was Mr. Daniel P. dressed as The Messiah who, while being repentant in defeat proclaimed that his ‘second-coming’ hadn’t quite gone to plan.

“In my experience miracles usually happen, but I didn’t foresee this one materializing!”

Mr. Christ said.

No one can remember who won third place, but some notable others included Kerri C. as “Tinkerbell,” Dave Wilson as the Demon Prince of “S.O.D o-mee” and Ivan P. as “The Joker.”

-Paul Lomax

FREE SUPPORT SERVICES! Train to be a Recovery Coach….

HEALTHY PLATE PLANNER 2018 Make a date at PARC’s Dining Room every Tuesday afternoon to join Sara Pellegrini from the Wellness Community as she serves up top, tasty and healthy tips for the Holiday Season and the New Year!

Our Social Activities include day outings to Museums and cultural events.

Peers can also take part in sports like basketball, softball, ping-pong & handball.

Each week Sara will be giving advise on how to prepare more healthier meals to improve our diets and reduce stress – all using the simple ‘9inch Plate Method.’

Peer-to-Peer Support is an opportunity to join Men & Women’s Workshops, Mutual Aid Groups and become involved with Recovery Coach Services.

For those who enjoy the ‘silver screen’ join us every Thursday for movie night!

“You divide the plate into three portions. For breakfast you should use half of the plate for fresh fruit and milk, then the other two half's for protein and starch needs such as peanut butter and cereals.” Sara explained.

Suggested foods for dinner could be baked or broiled meats, or steamed fish along with corn, peas and yams with carrots, and broccoli and green beans all served using the 9inch Plate method!

Other services offered by Wellness Community include nutritional counseling for families, diabetes education, prenatal nutrition and much more.

We offer Vocational Services such as computer labs, Internships programs, and Job support and Entrepreneurship through Recovery Workshops.

Family/Parenting and Young Adults Workshops offer with weekly Nutritional Health regiments

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Connect with us! parc@samaritanvillage.org TEL: 917.244.1445 92-13 147th Place Lower Level Jamaica, NY 11435 P.A.R.C., A part of Samaritan Daytop Village Family

Paul Lomax

For further information contact:(212)545-6221 or visit www.chnnyc.org

“YOU PROMISED” You promised you’d quit.

I know that you tried, It turns out you lied.

This letter really speaks to me and gives an insight into someone really struggling with addiction.

You promised you’d try

This is something that I and many others have struggled with for a very long time. Quitting a substance is the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. Although it is very difficult, it comes with great rewards.

To quit again.

But you weren’t any more successful that time my friend.

I really enjoyed this poem “You Promised,” because I can relate to what this person is speaking about. When you promise something, in my eyes you have to follow through or there are people that will be disappointed in you.

This time will be different You promised me.

You’d give up your pipe,

I’ve made a lot of promises in my life, many of which had to do with quitting drugs. I’ve disappointed a lot of people…most of which were those closet to me, and this poem really speaks to that feeling.

You’d be cracka free.

Than you love your dope.

So I’m saying goodbye, And this time I mean it.

Your promises don’t turn out, I’ve already seen it.

You don’t care about Your life or your health.

I cannot save you, But I can save myself.

-Anonymous

”You Promised” quoted from: http://addiction.lovetoknowcom/wiki/Sad_Drug_Poems

But your still smoking crack, You’ll always love me less

MARK CAPEZUTI tells us why a poem he discovered changed his perspective on recovery and how it helps others…

“Courage is grace under pressure.”

--Ernest Hemingway.

But in the end

And I’ve given up hope.

In his monthly column,

One of the lines in this poem that really speaks to me is... “...you’ll always love me less

than you love your dope…” …the reason being, is that so many times I’ve tried to quit using is because of the love I have for family and loved ones’, yet I always seem to go back.

This shows me that the love I have for others will not keep me clean. I need to do this for myself first.

The last line says…

“I cannot save you,

But I can save myself…” …because it reiterates to me that this process really works, when I am doing this for myself and not for others.

-Mark C.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Lucy (2014) Dir: Luc Besson Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked Lucy is an innocent American student traveling abroad who is unexpectedly thrown into the treacherous underworld of the international drug trade. After ingesting a synthetic mind altering drug, she rapidly develops psychokinetic abilities and begins to use her consciousness as a lethal weapon!” - Shady Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Dir: Martin Scorsese Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey DiCaprio plays real life NYC stockbroker Jordan Belfort whose multi-million dollar firm engaged in rampant corruption, financial fraud and incessant debauchery during the 80’s that ultimately led to its downfall. After nearly losing his family, Jordan decides to get sober from cocaine, alcohol and Quaaludes.

- Nighthawk Children of Men (2006) Dir: Alfonso Cuaron Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore A dystopian 2027, where millions of illegal immigrants flee a war torn Europe seeking sanctuary in the U.K. to find a totalitarian government imposing oppressive laws on all refugees. Owen plays an alcoholic civil servant who reluctantly aids a pregnant ‘fugee’ desperate to escape the chaotic crisis closing in around them. - London Lord of War (2005) Dir: Andrew Nichol Starring: Nicholas Cage, Jared Leto , Bridget Moynahan In this brutal and dramatic war movie, Cage & Leto play brothers working as illegal and ruthless arms dealers. Based on real-life the stories, the film tracks the two Ukrainian immigrants from Brighton Beach, NY to the war torn continents of Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. – Nighthawk Spun (2002) Dir: Jonas Åkerlund Starring: Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy A black comedy crime drama which centers around various, colorful characters as they become involved in a methamphetamine drug ring. Each of them is on a desperate quest to try at any cost to extract themselves from the game, only to find it incredibly terrifying to just say no. - Shady Requiem for a Dream (2000) Dir: Darren Aronofsky Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Jared Leto, and Ellen Burstyn This powerful and searing film tracks the lives of four characters’ drug addictions which lead them into world of hopeless self-delusion and reckless desperation that ultimately leaves them as tragic, hollow, and tortured shells of their former selves. – Shady Before Sunrise (1995) Dir: Richard Linklater Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy A touching and intelligently written romantic drama telling of a brief encounter between a young idealistic American man and a precocious young French woman. After meeting on a train they impulsively jump off in Vienna, Austria where they spend the night until sunrise begins to dawn. This movie is the first of a trilogy. - London Scarface (1983) Dir: Brian De Palma Starring: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio A Cuban immigrant (Pacino) turns in a powerful performance as megalomaniacal Miami Drug Kingpin terrorizing the city’s crime underworld. His addiction to cocaine soon spirals into epic ultra-violent paranoia, leading to the betrayal of ruthless enemies that launches into one of the most explosive cinematic climaxes ever! - Shady

“BLACK OUT” – A Film Review After another ‘black out’ Josef, an ex-criminal, gets pulled into one last job… on the night before his wedding!

Directed by: Arne Tone Starring: Raymond Thiry (Josef), Kim van Kooren (Caroline) Country: The Netherlands

Each issue, we will highlight a unique film that relates to the recovery process.

BLACKOUT (2015) is a funny and entertaining crime film/caper about Josef (an ex-gangster trying to go straight) who gets a nasty wake-up call the eve of his wedding!

BLACKOUT begins with Josef, played with a tragic and comedic edge by Raymond Thiry, waking up to a call from his fiancé Caroline (Kim van Kooren) and soon finds himself laying next to a corpse… with no idea where he is or who the dead person is?!

Josef, through an unfortunate turn of events is held hostage by Vlad (Simon Armstrong), a former Russian ballet dancer-turned mobster. He wants the 20 kilos ($700k) of cocaine Josef allegedly “stole” from him, otherwise he will miss more than his wedding night!

“Grandpa” enters the picture next. He’s an 83-year-old gangster that blackmails Josef with the help of his future Father-in-Law, in exchange for the missing cocaine. Now it’s up to Josef to not only find the drugs he doesn’t even remember stealing nor losing along with discovering the identification of the dead body!

The only option left for Josef is to hatch a plan with the help of his gangsta goons, and solve the mystery before the seats start to fill in the chapel!

BLACKOUT hosts a supporting cast of shady underworld characters: bumbling crooks posing as dog walkers, sexy femme fatales and young “wanna’ be’s”.

The film style, directed by Arne Tone, reminded me of British auteur Guy Ritchie’s seminal films: Snatch and Rocknrolla.

Be prepared to sit through this hilarious, attention-grabbing and fast paced movie that steers itself through the twists and turns of it’s elaborate plot.

If you like funny, hard-core crime movies in the Guy Ritchie style, then this film is for you! One drawback I did find was that the film is all spoken in Dutch so you gotta’ read the subtitles to follow the plot!

Connect with us! parc@samaritanvillage.org TEL: 917.244.1445 92-13 147th Place Lower Level Jamaica, NY 11435 P.A.R.C., A part of Samaritan Daytop Village Family

“Knighthawk’s” Rating

BY -John Zukowski, Van Wyck THE PARC TIMES Film Critic

I found the accompanying anonymous poem amongst my recovery notes from 2016, just a few days before the deadline of this newsletter’s publication, so I chose to write some of my thoughts down for the first edition!

There are two lines in this poem that immediately struck several chords resonating deeply within me. Themes that as I write this, echo particular chapters of my own story of recovery. I will quote them below (out of their original context) forming a new perspective to illustrate the point I wish to convey. “…well there’s nothin’ you aint’ tried To fill the emptiness inside…” and, “Don’t you see, no matter what you do You’ll never run away from you…”

The above stanzas reminded me, that through all the years of experimenting and finally becoming addicted to various confections of drugs and alcohol, I only now – having been sober for an extended period of my life – realize how true these words really are… and what they really mean to me so if and when I choose to remember those broken-down moments I can still feel the pain and the anguish again. To remember those tangible feelings that festered inside of me each and every time I woke up and looked in the mirror and saw terror looking back at me is a fundamental and measured part of my long-term recovery. To evoke that refracted, unloved and dull, forlorn gaze that was staring back at me thick with an emptiness that even a broken heart would envy was indiscriminate in its brutality! It’s important to me that I look back, not in anger or with somber regret, but with a healthy disposition and a cheeky smile twinkling like a little star in some far away constellation.

I remember how very far I had fallen down into the deep abyss of misery, pain and anguish. For me, it is vital that those thoughts and feelings were unpackaged without discrimination, torn apart and scrutinized with a merciless eye. I remember clearly not giving myself a choice but to live again. To live with a new meaning. To start loving myself, to touch every moment with infant hands, to create again through images, to weave words within metaphors, to watch a beautiful collision full of intent spill onto empty canvasses stilled with graceful purpose and steeled determination.

Now within this - my new meaning of reality - I can see, that only through this new and unconditional love for myself can I live each day to its fullest. I can feel the integrity of tender honesty wrapping itself around me like armor, as I hold my head up high with honor to battle this disease that so very nearly took my life away.

I remember when I really understood these sentences in the form of different words and at a different time of my life. A fear ran through me, a fear that issued through my veins at full throttle, holding my whole meaning of ‘being’ as a hostage to this deep fear of my ‘old self’, a ‘self’ that I had once been perilously close to hurling into an unhallowed and perpetual oblivion.

As this commentary comes to a close, I sit at this point in my life with Pacobels’ Adagio echoing through these empty hallways thinking that I’ve written too many words to describe something so simple?!

So, in closing! I don’t know if this unknown poet had a muse or that he or she was writing for someone, a someone they perhaps loved or were imaginably inspired by?

What I do know now as an ‘absolute’ is that as I continue my own voyage of recovery and I hope one day soon to finally discover my own muse to love as much as I love myself…

-Paul Lomax

“The Anonymity of Recovery” Girl, you thought you found the answer On that magic carpAet ride last night.

But when you wake up in the mornin’ The world still gets you uptight.

Well, there’s nothin’ that you ain’t tried To fill the emptiness inside.

But, when you come back down, girl Still ain’t feelin’ right.

And don’t it seem like kicks just keep getting’ harder to find And all your kicks ain’t bringin’ you peace of mind.

Before you find out it’s too late, girl You better get straight.

No, but not with kicks You just need help, girl.

Well you think you’re gonna’ find yourself A little piece of paradise.

But it ain’t happened yet So girl, you better think twice.

Don’t you see, no matter what you do You’ll never run away from you .

And if you keep on runnin’ You have to pay the price.

--Anonymous, 2016

BRAINTEASERS!

We Need Your ART, WORDS, and FEEDBACK!

Here at the THE PARC TIMES (at our swanky “Park Ave” editorial offices!) WE really want to hear from YOU! We want to see your Art! (Posters, photos, graffiti, drawings, etc.)

We want to read your Words! (Stories, poetry, letters, opinions, and hear your VOICE )– all that’s fit to print!

All your ideas, comments and suggestions are WELCOME! Want to give someone a Shoutout for their Birthday or Sobriety Anniversary?! Let us know!

Please send all of your submissions and drop us a line at: TheTimesEditorial@gmail.com Or give us some ‘coin’ so we can spend it all on a suggestion box!

P.S. All tips are treated with confidentially. We will ensure to protect all of our sources!

“The measure of one’s life is the strength of one’s friendships”

HOURS OF OPERATION

MONDAY – WEDNESDAY: 10AM – 6PM THURSDAY – FRIDAY: 12PM – 8PM SATURDAY: 10AM - 3PM

Samaritan Daytop Village Peer Alliance Recovery Center 92-13 147th Place, Lower Level Jamaica, NY 11435 PHONE: (929) 244 – 1445

EMAIL: PARC@samaritanvillage.org www.samaritanvillage.org

SUBWAY: E/J TRAIN TO SUTPHIN BOULEVARD

THE PARC TIMES EDITORIAL TEAM.

LAURIE LIBERMAN - PUBLISHING EDITOR JESSICA FELICIANO - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PAUL LOMAX - MANAGING EDITOR DAVE WILSON – CREATIVE DIRECTOR LAURA CAPUTO – SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR JOHN ZUKOWSKI – FILM CRITIC/ EDITORIAL ASSISTANT MARK CAPEZUTI – CONTRIBUTOR NAZMOON PRITHWIPAUL – CONTRIBUTOR