Dear friends and family,

One year after completing the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail, I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps : NW (JVC). My first year with JVC was in Seattle, WA working with men and women who were placed into permanent housing with Catholic Charities. My second year was in Portland, OR at the Volunteers of America Men’s Residential Center (MRC). I worked with men who were on parole and probation and working on their own recovery from substance addictions. I am hiking again this summer. This hike I am asking people to sponsor each mile I will walk of the Pacific Crest Trail’s 2,650 miles to support the MRC’s Al Forthan Memorial Recovery Scholarship. (The scholarship was created in honor of Al Forthan, the first MRC client to be hired as a counselor. A phenomenal, inspiring man, Al guided many men into lives of recovery before passing away in April of 2006.)

At the MRC, I felt joyous being with men interested and working to improve their own lives. In addition, staff members extended their caring work ethic to support my personal growth. I was happy so often at the MRC with my work’s environment and mission, my co-workers and the clients that I can hardly think of a bad day. Others shared my joy. As a trusted co-worker said to me, when he saw me come to work each day he knew it was going to be a fun day, and I definitely had fun.

On the other hand, recovery work needs a little playfulness because so much of it involves many of the darker sides of our society. I heard in my tenure at the MRC countless stories of boys being raised in homes of violence and surrounded with drugs. These boys became men, considering a normal life to be involved with crime and drug abuse.

Hoping to alleviate a cycle of adults with addictions role-modeling to youth their criminal lifestyle, I took clients to local schools to share the negative results of their substance abuse and criminal choices. Men from the MRC humbled themselves before kids, sometimes in tears, as they shared the realization of the pain and harm they have caused themselves and others. From personal conversations between classes, I gathered that many students were already facing difficult situations with family and friends concerning the topics of substance abuse and crime. The positive example of the MRC clients was invaluable.

To engage students further concerning how to address issues of drug use in Portland schools and communities the MRC established an essay contest. Awarded to three senior high school students is a $1000 scholarship to college. Also the MRC offers three gift card awards to middle school students. In addition to openly discussing and airing the unwholesomeness of drug abuse, the MRC knows it is important to support positive alternatives to such use (like higher education). In gratitude for the continuing work of the MRC to change men’s lives and stop the cycle of drug abuse in Portland, I am dedicating my next hike to their work.

After experiencing small areas of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) while living in Washington and then Oregon, I am now preparing to thru-hike it over five months in 2008. I am aiming to raise $1.00 for each of the PCT’s 2,650 miles.

Please take part in sharing my joy for the MRC and my support for societal change by aiding the MRC’s Al Forthan Memorial Recovery Scholarship fund. Your tax-deductible contribution of $100, $50 or $25 will energize me throughout my five-month pilgrimage. Checks can be made out to: Volunteers of America, Oregon; [memo:] Al Scholarship Fund – PCT and sent to Julia Peters, VOA MRC, 2318 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Portland, OR 97212.

Yours truly,

Casey Burnett