(L to R: Dismas House Staff Member Mike; Dismas House Program Administrator Tyrone; Dismas House Alumnus Ray; Dismas House volunteer and retired Vincentian Tom)
Dismas House also facilitates activities and events to keep alumni engaged in the mission and connected to their fellow graduates. Pictured above is the annual Dismas House summer barbecue, in which residents, alumni, staff and volunteers gather together to break bread and share memories of their time in the program and updates on their current lives.
Although the 2020 barbecue may have looked a little smaller to accommodate for safe social distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic, attendees were still able to catch up, demonstrating the remarkable connections that can develop from our program.
Ray, a Dismas House alumnus, shared with the group his experiences in the past year. After leaving the home in spring of 2018, Ray took a job at an accounting agency in Manhattan, where he remains today. His perilous commute during the pandemic, which revealed an abundance of homelessness and addiction issues in the city, gave him an epiphany of what he would like to do next; a recovering addict himself, Ray plans to begin taking classes to become a recovery coach.
