By Anne Durham Smith | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Hillary Henderson has found a group of people who cheer her on as she works toward the changes she’s making in her life.
She’s come a long way from the day when A Better Life — Brianna’s Hope was recommended to her by a hospital social worker. Having struggled with self-harm, she estimates she was hospitalized 10-12 times in the year before she started going to the group’s recovery meetings.
In the last six to seven months, that hasn’t happened once.
She was skeptical when she first showed up for a meeting more than a year ago at First Presbyterian Church. She listened and didn’t want to open up for a while, but she continued to find people welcoming, patient and not pushy. Over time a rapport developed with the group.
“I wasn’t really that into going at first … I wasn’t really expecting to like it,” she said. “They pretty much saved my life. Otherwise I’d pretty much be in the ground by now.”
Others have taken note of the work the Greenfield chapter of A Better Life — Brianna’s Hope is doing to come alongside people like Henderson who are making positive changes in their lives. The recovery ministry that began meeting in Greenfield in 2019 recently received the Bobby Keen Healthy Community Award from Hancock Health Foundation.
The Rev. Markus Dennis, pastor of Riley Friends Church, said the group’s 18 months have been a journey of overcoming challenges.
Early in the group’s time First Presbyterian’s pastor, the Rev. Ann Noland, died. “We found ourselves missing, really, one of the strong points of grace in our chapter,” Dennis said.
First Presbyterian closed in July. Meanwhile, Dennis’ Riley Friends Church had moved from the nearby South Street location where it began. When Riley Friends moved to 323 W. Park Ave., inside the Greenfield Friends Church building, Brianna’s Hope moved there too.
Yet by the time Riley Friends had its first service there in May, Hancock County was dealing with COVID-19. Many worshipers were watching services online, and many groups were not meeting.
Social distancing “became social isolation for some aspects of recovery,” Dennis said. Knowing isolation was not an ideal setting for someone struggling with addiction or self-harm, “We found ourselves reaching out in different ways … We decided to be proactive with our leaders and our strugglers.”
That included seeking permission to call or text participants to check in and see how they were doing. That also included using Facebook Live and Zoom to gather virtually, and letting those for whom in-person contact was important attend onsite, with distancing, during a Facebook Live.
“We didn’t want to lose anyone to the struggle during this,” Dennis said. “The recovery community was more vulnerable.”
When the weather was warmer and cases were lower during the summer, the group organized some community barbecues in the church parking lot as a point of connection. Volunteers on the hospitality team “ramped up their Servsafe courses” and made careful choices to offer food safely, he said.
Dennis, also president of the A Better Life — Brianna’s Hope board of directors, said the group reached out to state drug enforcement leaders about how to stay open, and it let individual chapters decide how to pursue connection during quarantine.
The recent award to the Greenfield chapter comes with $1,000. Other donors have been prompted to match that or otherwise donate, Dennis said, and the money will go toward starting two new chapters in Hancock County — one in Fortville, and one in New Palestine.
Henderson is excited about the award and hopes it will help more people find out about Brianna’s Hope and get connected.
“They’re not just about if you have problems with drugs,” she said. “You could be recovering from anything, even grief, and they’re welcoming toward that.”
She hopes other people who are ready for change will give it a chance.
“They’ve always got to want to work toward bettering themselves,” she said. “Nobody’s going to be pushy with you … just give it a try.”
