Choosing life, choosing laughter

by Kim Zanti

I met a man who said he was dead. David was eating (rarely), sleeping (occasionally) and stealing (regularly) to scrape together enough money for his next bag of meth. This wasn’t life, he said. It was death — an endless loop — and he wanted out.

We met when he reached out for help. I had just become executive director of End Dependence, an L.A.-based public benefit organization that offers financial grants for the biologic component of addiction treatment. David’s application and personal statement were on the top of the pile.

David was highly motivated to stop using. He said he’d tried to quit many times over the past 20 years. He described his family and work life, when he wasn’t high, and how he dreamed of living like that every day. He used a saying that, one year later, I’ve read many times—“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” He felt profoundly hopeless until he heard about End Dependence.

End Dependence awarded David a grant in 2007 for the Prometa Treatment Program®. It took the monkey off his back. He started making better decisions. He regained the trust of his family and employer. He started to live again and returned to work. He also agreed to share his story so that others could benefit from his experience. You can watch a video about David on our website, at www.enddependence.org.

I took on the role of ED for End Dependence out of compassion for people like David, who are fighting their own biology without the right weapons. David’s experience is just one of hundreds I’ve read about over the past year. I believe that access to biologic treatment is the first hurdle to overcome in addiction recovery. Our grant review committee of doctors, nurses and psychologists advocates for the Prometa Treatment Program® because it’s safe, it works, and it’s opening new windows on treatment. Our program helps people transform their lives.

In 2008, our focus is Los Angeles County. The need here is great, not only in the treatment of addiction to meth, but also to cocaine and alcohol. Our goal is to offer 100 financial grants this year. But to do this, we must continually raise money to pay for the treatments at a reduced cost. So we’ve assembled a stellar line-up of comedians for our next fundraiser, Comedy Helps End Dependence, scheduled for Saturday, May 17, at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre, at 1615 N. Vine St. in Hollywood.

Please join us, and bring a friend. Your ticket purchase will help us help others to break the endless death loop and give them a chance to make the most of their therapeutic plans and lives. Special discounted tickets are available to sober-living residents through the box office at (323) 461-0663. For more information and all other ticket orders, visit www.ricardomontalbantheatre.org/tickets.htm

Kim Zanti is executive director of End Dependence and a nonprofit consultant. She specializes in working with small and mid-size public benefit organizations, artists and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.kimzanti.com.