by Scott Wisenbaker

Scott Wisenbaker

As with all recessions economic pain is always followed by the good ole American spirit of ingenuity. For instance as early as the panic surrounding a six year recession in 1876 inspired famed American inventor Thomas Edison to establish GE (General Electric) which is now the third largest company in the world.

Just 63 years later HP (Hewlett-Packard) was founded in a Palo Alto garage with an investment of $538.00. The company has grown and operates in almost every country with a revenue exceeding $100 billion annually.

Some other household names that started during economic hardships are Hyatt, Burger King, IHOP, Fed-Ex, Microsoft, CNN, MTV, Sports Illustrated, and most recently during the post 9/11 recession Wikipedia established in 2001.

For the past few years we have all been watching the slow moving train wreck that is our economy continuously fall further and further in trouble. From a feeding frenzy just two years ago for Federal dollars, to the sobering news today that deep cuts in the federal, local, and state budget will affect every single one of us.

The leading story this morning in the Dallas area – DISD announces coming lay-offs for many teachers and possible school closings. Closer to home for our industry, state funded treatment beds will be greatly reduced to be followed by the inevitable loss of many jobs. This has left many of our colleagues looking for alternative avenues of funding and streamlining of services.

There is no quick fix or financial aid packages that will clean up our current mess. This will be corrected over time the same way that it always has with that entrepreneurial American spirit combined with hard work, sweat equity, and long hours.

We started as fighters and we have always recovered the same way. This time will be no different. There will be pain. Every President, CEO, Director, and individual will need to look for new innovative methods in which we will climb from the financial chaos once again. Failure and pain have always been our greatest motivators. You need not look any further than Thomas Edison to see this concept.

Although Edison gave us such inventions as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, cement, and the electric generator, that was not his greatest contribution. Edison thrived to raise the standard of living in the United States by producing products at a low cost so that the average American could afford them. He understood that in order to be truly successful he would need to keep moral up. This is where we can see his greatest contribution to our current way of life.

Failure is always a learning experience to slowly learn what does not work. His 200 employees dealt with hundreds and thousands of failures before finding the products that changed our way of life time and time again. There were no stupid ideas and no unworthy concepts there was only time and Edison's encouragement to his staff to keep trying. Making others believe that anything is possible, while giving his employees the materials and tools necessary, was his key to the enthusiasm to continue.

Another noteworthy invention in the face of impossible odds is the Wright Brothers aircraft. Although men of science had proven that flight was impossible, two bicycle mechanics who never received their high school diplomas, wouldn't take "no" as an answer. Despite everything they were told, they would not give up until they succeeded the impossible. As a result, air travel has become a way of life.

It saddens me that many of my colleagues will likely lose their positions in the light of our current recession and that communities will lose many state funded beds in the various treatment centers. In the nonprofit end of the spectrum, this means less donors and the end of many federal grants.

Just as history has demonstrated some of us will thrive, soaring to new heights despite the economy. We will reinvent how we meet needs and explore new innovative ways of thinking and change how many feel about recovery. I believe to some extent it has started and that we may be on the dawn of a new era.

It is that very pioneering spirit that led us to start a non-profit long term residential sober living program concentrated on the reentry of our residents back into the community. This concept of getting them back to work to pay their own way combined with a peer driven 12-step model has proven to be successful with addicted men and women returning from treatment or the county jail. Against all odds we have now returned over 375 men and women back to the workforce without using a single tax dollar. In fact, our records indicate that each of our 41 beds save the community a minimum of $42K each and every year. As the economy falters we are looking to private donors to help us build a new campus with 108 beds, annually saving the community $4.2 million.

More than ever it will be a time of sharing ideas and working together so that as a recovery community we keep as many beds open as possible to those in need. In the transitional or sober living arena many of us are joining together to solve many common issues, provide training, exchange ideas, share experiences, and raise the bar for our level of service by preparing to launch the Texas Transitional Living Coalition.

Other pioneers like the late Mark Houston have made huge changes in thinking within the industry. It was like he threw out the rule book and said that there was a more cost effective way to help suffering alcoholics and addicts that need our help. I personally know a number of men who are alive and well today because of Mark and his ideas. The thing is that we as Americans have never been satisfied with just one way to do things. We are always looking to build a better mouse trap and conquer what others said cannot be done. God bless Mark Houston and those who are following in his footsteps.