Broken Chain heals and inspires

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Robert Reed leads class in 12-step addiction program at the Molina Neighborhood Center.

Dayna Mazzei Worchel for South Texas Catholic

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Robert Reed wants to save the world. “At least as much of it as I can,” he said, brushing tears from his eyes as he spoke with passion about the support group for drug and alcohol addicts he founded five years ago called Broken Chains.

And the people who attend his 12-step meetings, in the style of Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, want to be saved too. They think highly of the Christ-centered Broken Chains group and of the leadership of Reed, 71, who struggled with his own drug and alcohol addictions as the result of a family tragedy.

Anita Cisneros said she began drinking when she was an adult, and that she did not feel worthy of God’s love. She was raised Catholic, and a deacon at her church led her to Reed and his group. Life has completely changed for her now, Cisneros said.

She began her recovery at Charlie’s Place Recovery Center and has continued it through Broken Chains. Cisneros said she never believed her recovery would be a lifelong process. But she is happy with all of the support she receives.

“Robert has seen me grow. I now have a lot of support and I am well, body, mind and spirit,” she said.

Broken Chains started out as a ministry at Most Precious Blood Parish in Corpus Christi in 2010 because some parishioners asked about having a 12-step group there, Reed said.

Although the group no longer meets at the church, Father Bob Dunn, priest at Most Precious Blood, said they provide moral and some financial support. He credits Reed with doing all the work to get Broken Chains started and sustaining it. Reed, who said he is in the process of filing paper work to make the organization a nonprofit 501 (c) (3), provides much of the financial support from his own income.

“I have a lot of people and companies who say they want to contribute, but they say we must officially have 501 (c) (3) status first,” Reed said. He expects Broken Chains to achieve that status soon.

Father Dunn said some people need that spiritual relationship with Christ that Broken Chains helps provide.

“For those who have a friendship with the Lord, a part of the freedom from addiction is healing from past hurts and Christ is a healer. It helps some people more to know that Jesus is a reality and not just an idea. He’s a living, vibrant Messiah,” Father Dunn said.

Reed’s own story began with drug and alcohol use after a family tragedy 46 years ago. He declined to discuss specifics of what happened, but said he went from a “nice home and family” to living homeless in the backseat of a car for a time.

Reed said he tried to get clean and re-married. But he still struggled.

“I heard my wife praying for me to turn around,” he said.

He said he had a spiritual awakening and healing on March 8, 2008 at a weekend Catholic retreat after his wife, Belen Reed, had encouraged him to go. He said Father Eduardo Montemayor, SOLT director of evangelization with the Diocese of Corpus Christi at the time, asked for those who wanted healing to come forward. Reed did, and his life was changed.

“I lay prostrate on the floor, crying, saying I needed to make changes,” Reed said.

Father Montemayor assured Reed that God would forgive Reed’s mistakes. Reed started Broken Chains two years later.

Word spread and Broken Chains has grown beyond the walls of Most Precious Blood Church. Meetings are at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the Molina Neighborhood Center on Horne Road in Corpus Christi. The group’s outreach ministry now also includes the Nueces County Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, both the men’s and women’s units.

Reed goes to the facility numerous times during the week to lead the support group along with a few volunteers and also brings people from the facility to the Molina Neighborhood Center for meetings. After judges sentence them, individuals are confined to the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility for six months to one year at a time for non-violent, drug-related offenses. The treatment facility is separate from the Nueces County Jail.

The toughest part for those who go through the treatment process at the facility is when they are released, Reed said. The individuals want to stay clean, but they do not get the support they need from family and friends who still use drugs and alcohol.

“They get pressured by the old ways,” he said, adding that he feels like many of the people in Broken Chains meetings are like his children because he grows attached and gets to know them well.

People like Alex Alvarado and Greg Reinhart say it is Reed and the group’s spiritual approach which are helping them the most. Both are confined to the Nueces County Substance Abuse Treatment Facility for drug-related offenses and have found help for themselves through attending meetings.

Alvarado said he had never participated in religious-related or spiritual group before, but now finds it valuable.

“This helps a lot more than being in jail,” he said.

Reinhart said he has had a spiritual awakening since meeting with Broken Chains. His original sobriety date was in 2011, but said he relapsed and “fell away from Christ.”

He has since started his recovery process once more and credits Reed with giving him the tools to do so.

Robert Reed leads class in 12-step addiction program at the Molina Neighborhood Center. Dayna Mazzei Worchel for South Texas Catholic

“I’m very proud to be a part of his team,” Reinhart said.

Recovery programs such as Broken Chains can be crucial when it comes to helping people not re-offend. A 2012 article published in “Governing” magazine stated that a Council of State Governments Justice Center study showed Texas recidivism rates fell 11 percent in recent years for prisoners released in 2007 because of rehabilitation and treatment programs.

Reed said he could use a little help leading his group. He said he needs good Christian sponsors who have had previous experience with drug and alcohol addiction and who have been clean more than a year. He prefers to call them Catholic mentors who can help mentor those in the group into a new way of life. And he encourages them to come help out in their own community.

“They have to understand how badly they are needed,” Reed said.

He said he knows God did not start using him until late in life. God did not begin using Abraham until Abraham was 75, Reed said.

“I know I love what the Lord has done for me and I want to share,” Reed said.