Recovery’s improbable providence

Don McHenry remembers the time, back in the 1980s, when he walked through a West Seneca field that later would become the Renaissance Campus.

He walked the grounds with Richard J. Gallagher, the man who has helped many local teens tackle their drug and alcohol problems, as Gallagher explained the need for a residential treatment for these teens.

McHenry, as president of the Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services board, later met with contractors and architects, and signed some of the loans for Western New Yorks crown jewel in residential treatment for young alcohol and drug addicts.

Little did McHenry know that years later, the campus he helped create would help save his own flesh and bloods life.

His grandson, Deric McHenry, now 27, is one of the graduates of the Renaissance Campus.

Both McHenrys, born 48 years apart, are recovering alcoholics who remain thankful that someone was there to help them become sober.

That grandfather-grandson connection is one of the many stories associated with this years 25th annual Kids Escaping Drugs telethon, which airs from 6 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday on WGRZ-TV.

Don McHenry, now 75, has had three separate careers, and he still works as a drug and alcohol counselor, a licensed interventionist.

He has seen it all, especially in the alcohol and drug world, but he still marvels at the coincidence linking his volunteer work to his grandsons need.

I call it providential, that this facility would be built on my watch, and years later, when we had a need for Derics problem, there was a facility for him in Western New York, the elder McHenry said.

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Recovery’s improbable providence