Depar tment of Communit y Super vision
1,191
DRC graduates in FY19
DRC Success Story
Chris Buckley
—
The story of this participant’s life includes a
long history of drug abuse and committing
violent, public hate crimes. In 2016, the
participant’s wife staged an intervention
with close family and friends to try and start
the participant on a path of recovery. After
frequent bouts of homeless shelters, drug
rehab centers, and gang convictions in Los
Angeles, the participant admitted to being
“a broken man and needing to turn the page
on his hatred of the past."
With assistance from the staff, the participant
ultimately gained employment as a machine
mechanic at a carpet mill. Furthermore,
he began volunteering at the Haven, a
church outreach ministry for people who
are homeless, hungry, and struggling with
addiction. At the Haven, the participant
works in the garden, serves food, and leads
NA meetings. He feels like this place is his
purpose. He now befriends those he once
despised. He summarizes his transformed
life well; “I just want to do good to make up
for all the bad.”
The participant’s addiction to drugs, however,
was a different matter; it had worsened,
and he was arrested for possession. In 2017,
he was arrested again and detoxed over
his four-month sentence. He was given the
opportunity to go to the Lookout Mountain
DRC where he became a “model participant.”
His counselor, Beverly Chapman, said he had
a bumpy start at the DRC but ended up really
buying into the intent of the program. The
DRC places an emphasis on accountability,
character development, and a multitude of
other courses that eventually serve as a point
of reformation for the participant.