Jeff Lemieux and Alex Cruz

Jeff Lemieux is a support staff member in Phase I of the Turnbridge Men’s Program and a strong member of the local recovery community. “I am in my fourth year of sobriety,” shared Jeff. “Most of my life I was an auto mechanic. In my first year of recovery, I took a year off and just focused on myself. Around a year sober I got a job as a mechanic, but something was missing. I took a recovery coach training at CCAR and while I was learning all that stuff, I just started to feel like it could bring purpose and meaning to my life.” Jeff reached out to John Palmer, Director of Professional Development at Turnbridge, who he knew from being around the recovery community in Stratford, CT to inquire about a position at Turnbridge.

“Just being able to connect with these guys and give them a little bit of hope, I have never felt a reward like that in my life, “said Jeff. “Especially when I see them start to flourish and connect with their families and become productive members of society.”

“I believe I bring something unique to Turnbridge,” said Jeff. “The clients and I have a very good rapport. I enjoy a challenge. I enjoy trying to bridge the gap with the clients that are struggling. I enjoy it because I know there is a purpose to what I am doing. I am helping to build a better world. I’m on the front lines.”

“I am a big music guy and I get to take the guys to the music studio,” said Jeff. “There is so much talent there. I love reminding them of that; that being in recovery is not a punishment, it’s a gift. I love helping them harness their talents and strong points.”

Alex Cruz is also a support staff member in the Turnbridge Men’s Program. Alex has an enthusiastic and contagious energy that is truly uplifting. “I am honored to work in an environment that's helping the still sick and suffering,” said Alex. “From day one at Turnbridge, I was super excited. Seeing these young men come in broken and confused and not thinking they have anything to offer, and being able to share my experience strength and hope with them to bond with them... I can’t even explain it, it’s so satisfying.”

Alex works two jobs and is frequently asked how he does it. “You can’t be tired when you do something you truly love and have a passion for,” said Alex. “I see the guys change their lives. It feels good to see them make changes and move on. I take the guys to meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we go out for coffee, and joke, and laugh. It's such a small thing but I can see how much it does for them. We are all out joking around and no one has any substances in them.”

Marjorie S. is the mother of Ben S., a current client in Phase III of the Turnbridge Men’s Program.

Marjorie raised her son in Long Island, New York, where she’s lived for the last 20 years. After completing high school, Ben went off to Queens College, but she and her husband remained concerned that he wasn’t thriving the way they knew he was capable of. “Ben had been unhappy for a very long time,” said Marjorie. “We had always suspected that he had been dependent on things to get him through certain experiences. We were very, very concerned. We couldn’t talk to him. He never admitted that he thought the alcohol might have a problem until things got really bad.”

Ben’s family were not the only ones to notice that he wasn’t himself. “His friends had a mini intervention on him, where they confronted him,” recalled Marjorie. “They called us to tell us he would get help. He started seeing a psychologist, and we called the psychologist to see if he had any recommendations and he mentioned Turnbridge.”

“The reason that my husband was attracted to Turnbridge, apart from other places, was the fact that it was a longer program, which we felt would be better for him,” said Marjorie. “Gordon was the one we talked to on the phone. He was incredible. He was direct and sympathetic to what we were going through. He knew the urgency in what was happening and got Ben into Turnbridge right away.”

“My husband and I are extremely supportive of Turnbridge,” said Marjorie. “We have never met people who are so caring and so involved in their work, and their recoveries, and their stories. We were impressed from the moment we spoke to Gordon on the phone, to Chris Nagle, who was Ben’s Phase I Case Manager. Gordon sent me a text the day Ben got to Turnbridge from detox saying ‘the eagle has landed’ and I just started crying because he said Chris had dinner with him the first night.”

“We're a very loving family, but we were never actually able to communicate with each other because Ben didn’t want to hear anything we had to say at the time, and we couldn’t get through to him,” said Marjorie. “We were always angry and upset. We have been going to Family Therapy at Turnbridge with Josh. He’s wonderful. We have come to this place where we can all respect each other.”

“For Ben I think a lot of his problem was that we were trying to be overprotective, so he never really had much self-esteem because we never really let him do anything,” said Marjorie. “We always loved each other. Now he’s become a person, a mature person. He's so much happier. As a parent that's all you really want, for your child to be happy. So you know we’re happy.”

“He learned so much in a year about himself, about life,” said Marjorie. “He made friends. After a while I don’t think he wanted to leave. Doug, Ben’s Phase III Case Manager, has been so good to us and has been an amazing life coach for Ben. Matt Leahy was so supportive and instrumental. All of the staff has been unbelievable. Ben is getting so much out of the program. Who knows what the future will hold. We feel like he has a future now.”

“Ben has always been a wonderful person,” said Marjorie. “But, I think the difference is that he actually thinks so now as well.”