Annapolis nonprofit founder and musician Larry Griffin, who helped those with addiction problems, dies at 73

“Teddy Bear,” “Gentle Giant” and “Big Brother” are terms often used in conversation to describe musician and nonprofit founder Larry Griffin, an Annapolis native who recovered from nearly three decades of drug addiction to spend his last three decades helping neighbors facing the same challenges.

Leroy “Larry” Griffin Jr. died Monday at the age of 73 from complications relating to dementia, which he suffered for around the past five years, said his wife, Rachel Griffin. His advocacy nonprofit, We Care and Friends, based in Annapolis’ Stanton Community Center, began in the early 1990s and has since helped thousands of people pay rent, gas bills, secure housing, start on a path of drug addiction recovery and generally persevere through some of the darkest moments of their lives.

He was known to neighbors, friends and music lovers in Annapolis for his nonjudgmental attitude, welcoming nature and artistic prowess as a percussionist in local bands including Daylight, Mama Jama and the Michael McHenry Tribe.

What he is best known for, however, is founding and operating We Care and Friends.

“‘Dr. G gave me a second chance, and now I want to do his work,'” Griffin used to say, referring to God, when speaking about his advocacy work, Rachel Griffin said.

Born in 1950 to Leroy Griffin Sr. and Beatrice Ponds, Griffin grew up in Eastport and attended Annapolis High School. He always had an aptitude for music and would dance around the school’s flagpole for money while his friend Randy Rowel collected whatever people gave. The two also sang in a Temptations cover group throughout their teen years. His career in music as a self-taught drummer sustained him financially throughout his life.

“It was God’s gift,” Rowel said. “He just had rhythm.”

Griffin also had an aptitude for trouble.

As a teen, “Larry was known for fighting, let’s be real,” Rowel said.

“When people were bothering us, he would go and confront them,” added Griffin’s sister, Glendora Liverpool.

His involvement in the music scene soon led him to 28 years of illegal drug use, Rachel Griffin said. His cousin Michael McHenry suspects experiences of racism may have also led him to substance abuse.

In his young adulthood, at his lowest point when he was addicted to cocaine, Griffin told Rowel, “I’m invisible.”

It was that lack of support Griffin never wanted anyone else to experience. Around the late 1980s, when in his late 30s, he started getting clean and came up with the idea for We Care and Friends.

The nonprofit focused on helping those who felt they weren’t ready for traditional drug recovery centers or who were too overwhelmed trying to navigate social services systems.

“Always that feeling of, ‘I have to do this. I have to look out for myself and other people.’ He was always in that mode,” McHenry said.

Griffin’s nonprofit, which will continue operating, became known for its bountiful Thanksgiving dinners, holiday toy drives, summer camps for kids and work on the streets helping redirect those involved in drugs into treatment and fulfilling careers, even advocating for them in court.

“It was a continuation of who he was, Rowel said. “He, once again, became a protector, but this time a protector for good.”

Griffin’s protégés Larry Beavers and Derrick Sturgis, who worked with him throughout his time running We Care and Friends, said Griffin helped occupy the time they would have spent on their vices – gambling and drugs – and channel their energy into service.

Soon after Sturgis was released from the former Crownsville Hospital Center’s mental health program, he ran into Griffin who gave him a job moving equipment for his bands.

“I probably would have been out there selling drugs, to be honest,” if Griffin hadn’t helped him, Sturgis said.

Working with Griffin added a safe sense of variety and dynamism to Sturgis’ life and that of many others he employed.

“It was never boring,” Sturgis said. “You just never knew what to expect with Mr. Larry. It was like Fourth of July fireworks.”

He had a similar effect on Beavers, whom he recruited as a volunteer for We Care and Friends’ programs, including its free summer camp.

Beavers, who spent decades addicted to drugs, connected with Griffin after a stint at a detention center and never relapsed again.

“He was a part of my recovery; he sure was,” Beavers said. “That’s why I stuck onto him.”

Money was always tight, however. While friends donated and held fundraisers, there was never enough. Not only did Griffin not draw a salary from running We Care and Friends – largely sustaining himself playing music gigs – he remortgaged his home multiple times to be able to better financially support the organization, said Rachel Griffin.

Though Griffin was out most days on the streets talking to people, going to meetings and learning more about proposed solutions to poverty-related issues in the community, his wife said she never felt neglected of his attention at home, even when it was filled with strangers.

“Everything Larry put out in the community, the way that they saw him is the way he truly is, even with me, with his marriage,” Rachel Griffin said. “He always put me first.”

McHenry added that no matter the hour they finished playing music together, Griffin would come home to Rachel as soon as he could.

The legacy of the organization now rests with Rachel Griffin, the organization’s new executive director and her son, Shelton Willett, Larry Griffin’s stepson, who is now the nonprofit’s CEO. Together they’re focusing on how their strengths can inform the new direction We Care and Friends is headed.

With Willett’s business experience as a co-owner of the Vitola 121 cigar store in downtown Annapolis, he’s working on helping local drug dealers transition their business skills into new, law-abiding careers. As a survivor of domestic violence, a situation Larry Griffin helped her escape, Rachel Griffin is hoping to dedicate the organization’s resources to helping more women achieve safety and independence. She’s also working on a book about their marriage.

A farewell tribute to Griffin will be held in early 2024, Rachel Griffin said. Along with his wife and stepson, Griffin is survived by his half siblings Dourine Cook, Glendora Liverpool and Curtis Ponds.