From addict to counselor, resident guides others to new future: ‘No place like hope'
When Chris Peach arrived at A Place of Hope several years ago, he didn’t plan on finding a home, much less a life calling and purpose.
He just wanted to get clean.
Today, Peach is still at the facility, but this time as a counselor guiding others.
Founded by Mike Coupe and family, Place of Hope celebrated its 24th anniversary as a substance abuse treatment center on April 20.
The 64-bed facility serves adult men and women dealing with issues of alcoholism, addiction, co-occurring disorders and homelessness. In the building of the former Bel-Air Nursing Home, Place of Hope is located at 105 N. James Campbell Blvd.
Peach's path is moving full circle, as so many before him – who have a renewed purpose in helping others who also suffered.
More: Columbia's Place of Hope leads thousands from addiction to new life for almost 25 years
Peach is now working toward his Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor certification on-site at Place of Hope with the help of onsite training.
Clients at the center who complete a period of transition living and return to work and regular life, have the option of becoming a peer counselor or go further to pursue licensure or certification in drug and alcohol counseling.
More: After addiction, jail and near-death, women find healing in Mt. Pleasant program
Coupe pioneered the recovery center by using a whole-life recovery approach, offering free, faith-based counseling, at the state-licensed drug and alcohol treatment facility, which he has lead this for almost a quarter of a decade.
The result is a safe place for clients to heal.
Recovery comes full circle
POH is home now for Peach as it has been for others in the past who have received in-patient treatment.
“Both my parents were alcoholics, growing up,” Peach said. “As a little boy all I would see is a lot of arguing and fighting. You don’t really know what alcoholism is until you get older.”
Peach recounts that he was consistently exposed to the chaos of physical and emotional abuse.
“Sometimes I would get a whipping just because my dad was drunk,” Peach said. “I didn’t understand. What did I do wrong? That went on for a long time.”
Peach said he turned to comfort in many ways, one being his experience with eating to mask emotions he was facing.
“I drifted in with the wrong crowd, started stealing my parents’ cigarettes and began dabbling in marijuana. It was that gateway for me,” Peach said.
“As time went on, I got into harder stuff,” he said. “And with meth, I tell people I was addicted before I ever tried it. It was my motivation, my social lubricant. It made me have that 10-feet tall and bulletproof feeling.”
He blamed his parents for the longest time, made excuses, he said as he reflected on times when he was in and out of jail.
“It started off fun,” Peach said. “But it ended with me miserable with or without it.”
However, his journey was just beginning.
It was at the annual Place of Hope tent revival that Peach said he stopped running and surrendered for the first time.
It was under that tent among local church ministers prayers of hope that he said he received his “spiritual awakening," which led to a path of true recovery.
He describes his new purpose as "directed by God," which became his "number one motivator in life."
Peach describes his "personal miracle" as the total loss of desire for the drugs that once controlled his existence.
Center reaches thousands in need of recovery
Peach isn’t the only one who has made the most of recovery and continued their involvement in helping others with the same struggles.
“One of our current board members got sober the first year we were open,” Coupe said. “He’s been sober ever since.”
That board member is today also, Maury County Commissioner Gary Stovall, who shared his own story, saying thanks to Coupe and the help of POH, he has seen more than 30 years of sobriety.
In these earliest days, Coupe said the economic environment was different for treating people with substance abuse addiction.
Coupe, himself has 47 years of continuous sobriety and has been professionally helping others to do the same for the majority of that time. Starting out as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor at Maury Regional Medical Center in 1988, he pioneered an approach to treating those who suffered from addiction, a program that lasted for about 10 years.
“Healthcare reimbursement was different,” said Coupe. “The administration came to us after 10 years and said you all have done a great job, but we can make more money using these beds for something else.”
The impact was huge to their bottom line, Coupe explained.
“So there were no hard feelings there, but what it did was make me even more aware of the need for treatment here in Maury County.”
The 28-day treatment plan, which would become par for the course in many other treatment centers around the nation was an insurance reimbursement limitation.
This time may work for some, but Coupe says there is nothing particularly magical that happens after that 28th day.
It was this first barrier that Coupe abandoned in favor of a longer, more long-term effective care plan that POH still engages to help others today.
Some clients at Place of Hope today, stay a year or longer. Some stay long enough to become a permanent staff member, like Peach.
Entering the center more than five years ago, Peach says he credits his redirected life to God and the Coupe family in steering him on the path he's on now.
He has also made amends with his parents today and maintains a positive relationship with his dad, who he said is also doing much better these days.
Peach is currently a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist on track to receive his full LADAC certificate to continue helping others at Place of Hope, continuing its legacy in Maury County to any who would reach out.
For more information visit www.placeofhopetn.com or call 931-388-9406 to find out current wait times for an available bed. Due to the manner of free care, there is typically a waiting period to begin residency.
Dave Campbell is a freelance writer in Middle Tennessee.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: From addict to counselor, Place of Hope resident guides others to new life
