By Jessica Karins | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Dennis Kinser knows firsthand how easy it can be for an addiction to start.
Several years ago, Kinser was prescribed opioid pain medication for a condition that causes painful blood clotting. The medication dulled the pain, but didn’t stop it entirely. Kinser decided to stop taking it after a few months.
The day after he stopped taking opioids, Kinser felt sick, like he was getting the flu. Two days later, he only felt worse, and realized what he was experiencing wasn’t an illness — it was drug withdrawal.
Kinser realized that although he was not feeling the mental symptoms of a drug addiction, “my body was addicted physically.” With the help of his family, friends and church community, Kinser was able to gradually taper off his use of pain medication. He said it was easy to imagine, however, another path he could have taken.
“If I didn’t have a good support system, I would’ve done drugs to get rid of that pain,” Kinser said.
Kinser is now the vice president of Brianna’s Hope, a Christian drug recovery program that operates in Indiana and Ohio. The organization was founded by the family and pastor of Brianna DiBattiste, a young woman who died of a drug overdose in 2014. It now operates approximately 50 chapters in Indiana and Ohio.
The newest chapter of Brianna’s Hope was recently formed in Greenfield. It is being led by the pastors of two local congregations, Ann Nolan of First Presbyterian Church and Markus Dennis of Riley Friends Church.
Dennis described the Brianna’s Hope approach as participant-driven and faith-based. Meetings are held at local churches and guided by a facilitator trained by the organization, but Dennis said they are driven by concerns the participants want to discuss. Unlike many other addiction recovery groups, they welcome family members, friends and members of the church community.
Brianna’s Hope also helps people access inpatient rehab services, whether through their insurance or by paying directly. Groups refer to people dealing with addiction as “strugglers” and those who have gotten sober as “overcomers.” They aim to hold people accountable by forming a supportive community and considering their individual needs.
“We focus on the struggler, not the struggle,” Dennis said.
The organization’s foundational prayer is taken from a diary entry DiBattiste wrote shortly before her death: “Please Lord, look after me and my family. Please help me to do the right thing and to show people I am not a bad person inside or out and help me Lord to get through this disappointment again and I know I make mistakes but who doesn’t? I don’t do it to do wrong. I do it cuz I feel I have no other choice. I want a better life, Lord, I do. Please help me. Do to me as what you feel is best. I surrender to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
After becoming involved in Brianna’s Hope, Kinser helped start chapters in New Castle and Knightstown and eventually was elected as vice president of the board of directors. He said what he values about the organization’s approach is that it doesn’t adopt a superior attitude toward people struggling with addiction, doesn’t scold people for using “language that wouldn’t normally be used in a church,” but tries to meet them where they are.
“We’re trying to walk right alongside them,” Kinser said. “We haven’t turned one person away yet that wanted help. A lot of people need help, but until you say you want it, you’re not ready for it,” Kinser said.
Lori Johnson’s struggle with addiction began in a similar way to Kinser’s experience.
Johnson said the approach of Brianna’s Hope worked for her where 12-step programs such as that pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous did not. She said 12-step programs have a heavy emphasis on dealing with past traumas that can trigger the same emotions people use drugs to avoid.
“People get to that part and they get stuck and a lot of times they will relapse,” Johnson said.
That’s what happened to her, several times. Her romantic relationships with fellow addicts didn’t help her move forward, either. In 2016, she decided to try something new, a Christian rehab program in Terre Haute. It aligned with the religious background she’d grown up with but drifted away from.
“I felt immediately at home,” Johnson said. “I had so much shame and guilt that it took me forever just to walk back into church.”
After leaving the inpatient program, Johnson got involved in Brianna’s Hope, which she said had a similar approach. She said the religious aspect helped her, but the community is also welcoming to people who do not have a Christian background.
Johnson has now been sober for 18 months and is “relationship-free,” which she said is just as important to her recovery, for eight months. The community she found at Brianna’s Hope, she said, has been vital every step of the way.
“They don’t do it for you, but they just walk with you,” she said.
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In Greenfield, Brianna’s Hope meetings are held at First Presbyterian Church at 116 W South Street. For more information, contact (253) 381-1358.
In Knightstown, meetings are held at the Harbor Church at 9002 W. Highway 40. For more information, contact (765) 524-2474.
All meetings run from 6:30-8 p.m., with a meal or refreshments provided beginning at 6 p.m. For a full list of meetings in all locations, visit www.ablbh.org/services.
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