Keynote speaker Kristina Canfield had just asked the audience at JCOC’s Black & White Gala to trust her by closing their eyes. More than 300 guests gathered on Friday, October 3rd to celebrate our 39th anniversary. The theme, Unmask the Story, was highlighted throughout the evening.
JCOC’s old campus
“I want you to imagine the old JCOC campus,” Kristina began. “I want you to imagine it’s a really cold winter morning. The sun is bright, but man, the air coming off the ocean has a bite to it. It’s frigid. I want you to imagine a young girl walking through the door to the office [with] her powder blue 1970s style suitcase, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I want you to feel her anxiety, and how palpable it is. I want you to see the tears rolling down her face. I want you to feel how scared she is.
“The staff is doing her intake. This is [during] a time when drug screens were required to live in the JCOC [shelter]. And that drug screen comes back positive for cannabis. The staff have a discussion, and make a really critical decision, because this girl has nowhere to go. They know. They know that if they turn her away what might come next. They make a decision in that moment to let her stay, as long as she keeps testing, and then she tests negative.
“You feel the relief. You watch her cry. You give her a hug, and you tell her it’s going to be alright. Now open your eyes.
Keynote Speaker Kristina Canfield
“That girl was me. That girl was me – 20 years ago on a cold February morning my father picked me up from detox and drove me to the JCOC and dropped me off. An entire new world of possibilities opened because of one moment one critical decision made by the staff at that time that housing was way more important than my positive drug screening for cannabis. It saved my life! That one decision has rippled throughout the world for the last 20 years.”
Kristina celebrated 20 years in her recovery journey earlier this year. She emailed JCOC’s executive director, Todd Walker just to say thank you. “The next 20 years could not have happened if it hadn’t been for that one moment,” she expressed.
The Best Years of Your Life?
Kristina went to Western Branch Middle and High School, took dance for 18 years, was a theatre kid, and went on to be the first in her in family to attend college. Then there was a deadly detour. She bought into society’s lie that partying doesn’t have consequences, and these are best years of your life. Looking back, Kristina said, “I hope these aren’t the best years of anyone’s life!”
Mom, dad, step dad and step mom came together for an intervention on December 26, 2004. Christmas had been a blur. Kristina was strung out, trying to act like she had everything together. Their 21-year-old daughter had to get help or go. Kristina didn’t respond well, but went to detox out of fear of losing everything.
Medical insurance’s recovery options were limited. Kristina’s detox consisted of checking into a psych ward in Portsmouth, VA. The young woman didn’t take it seriously, spending most of the time on the phone with her boyfriend trying to figure out how to get out.
Kristina returned to the Hampton Roads area college in January 2005, but didn’t make it through even one class. Without community or support on campus, she dropped out. Hopeless, she began using even harder drugs.
This was the point where Kristina’s parents had to, “detach with love.” She experienced homelessness for two months, and even traded her car or “home” for drugs.
Kristina found herself going through withdrawals on an overpass in Portsmouth during the pre-dawn hours. She was very sick and dirty. The early morning runners avoided her. On the inside, she screamed for help. Words would not come out. “I didn’t want to live,” she remembered. “I was yelling out into the world – yelling at God. Prove it now. I want to die.”
Realizing she was pretty close to her grandparent’s neighborhood, she ran and knocked on their door. Kristina’s grandfather answered. He looked her up and down and said, “Come in, gal.” Her grandmother cared for her until a couple of hours later, when her parents sat her down. Mom sent her back to the same psych. ward.
During this time, Kristina’s grandmother tearfully shared she prayed for her grandchildren every night by name. She had prayed for months that Kristina would come home. She changed the prayer the night before to hoping Kristina was all alone and had nowhere else to go!
Two weeks passed. Trying to figure out the next step, Kristina called treatment centers. They didn’t take her insurance. The case manager recommended JCOC.
Housing First
Did you know, about 80 percent of those abusing substances will relapse in the first year? Kristina remembers JCOC’s staff wrapping their arms around her and loving her during the several months she was in our Emergency Shelter. Her recovery continued at the Oxford House in Newport News. Both places provided safety and belonging.
The Ripple Effect
A lot of life has happened since! Kristina went on to earn both bachelor’s degree in History and master’s degree in College Student Personnel at Ohio University. She married in 2011, had a daughter, and lives in Birmingham, AL.
JCOC Executive Dir. Todd Walker with Kristina Canfield
As Executive Director for the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE), she is very passionate about the field of collegiate recovery. “Advocacy is one of my favorite things in the world,” she shared.
With more than 200 member institutions across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and most recently Japan, ARHE is the only association exclusively representing collegiate recovery programs and collegiate recovery communities, the faculty and staff who support them, and the students who represent them.
Kristina’s vision is that one day, every institution of higher education offers support for students in or seeking recovery so that they feel supported no matter their chosen path of recovery.