July 2018 Newsletter

Taking Soul’s Harbor Recovery Program to a Higher Level…

Hi, I am Josh and I have been clean and sober since I arrived at Soul’s Harbor over 3+ years ago. Let me back up and tell you where I came from. I was born and raised in rural Arkansas. When I was a teenager, I signed up for Teen Mission out of Florida. Teen Mission sent teenagers overseas to spread the word of Jesus. I was fortunate enough to travel to Delphi, Bonaire, Italy, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Greece. My mission was to build summer Christian youth camps in these countries. After traveling the world, I went back home. In Hot Springs, Arkansas I discovered drugs. Unbeknownst to me, this started my downfall.

In a few years, I was robbing houses to support my drug addiction. I actually stole firearms from a policeman’s house which at the time of the robbery, I was unaware that the habitation was owned by a cop. This led to a 3-year prison sentence with my first introduction to recovery. I thought moving to Abilene after my prison stint would change my behavior. Boy, was I wrong? Because of a previous back injury, I got addicted to painkillers. After running out of money for painkillers, I returned to my old habit of robbing houses. This landed me in Texas prison. After that, I bounced from one rehab to another. I have been in 9 different rehabs.

In March of 2015, I had enough and came to Soul’s Harbor. I found that Soul’s Harbor had a very unique and successful recovery model based on a holistic approach. I started out working in the stores and then became the intake coordinator. I earned practicum hours toward my Peer Recovery Support Specialist State of Texas certification. After that, doors started opening up for me and Soul’s Harbor. I was able to work with the court systems to have inmates assigned to Soul’s Harbor. I worked as the Chairman of Dallas Recovery Oriented Services and was one of the first 25 people certified for Medical Assistant Recovery Services to help people that are affected by the current opioid crisis. I was able to get Soul’s Harbor approved as a national and State of Texas recovery home (NARR and TROHN). Through my connections, I was able to get an “in-house” therapist to come out to Soul’s Harbor and via Skype have our residents talk with a psychiatrist regularly. As Brent said, “Josh has taken Soul’s Harbor recovery program to a higher level”. The future is bright for both me and Soul’s Harbor. Thank you Soul’s Harbor for taking a chance on me and allowing me to grow in the last 3 years.

I can see now…

Last month, Soul’s Harbor teamed up with Prevent Blindness and offered free vision screening to our residents. Besides providing free eye tests, Prevent Blindness provides a free voucher to professional eye care for 25 people at our event. Each voucher is worth anywhere from $250 to $1,000 in professional eye care. Soul’s Harbor has partnered with Prevent Blindness for 3 years. Prevent Blindness has biannual screenings at Soul’s Harbor for the greater Dallas recovery community. A Big Soul’s Harbor “Thank you” to Prevent Blindness for coming out and helping our residents.

We need your help…

Soul’s Harbor homeless shelter is supported solely by our four thrift stores. You can donate your household items via phone (972-286-1940) or our “Household Donation Request Form” page. We also take automobiles “Vehicle Donation Request Form“. So if you have old clothes, furniture, appliances, household items, or even a car to donate to Soul’s Harbor, either fill out our online form or call our dispatch office at 972-286-1940. Our dispatch office is open Monday through Saturday from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. We are sustained solely through our four thrift store sales. We rely on your donated items to support our shelter. At Soul’s Harbor, we would like to thank all our customers that donate their items and also our thrift store customers. Because without our customers, there would be no Soul’s Harbor.

Thank you and God Bless.

Brent Burmaster
Executive Director of Soul’s Harbor Homeless Shelter

Dispatch Representative/Main Contact Number:
Soul’s Harbor, Incorporated
13134 Nile Drive
Dallas, Texas 75253
972.286.1940
972.286.5282 Fax
contact@soulsharbordallas.org