|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Homeless man in rehab sets sights on alcohol-free life
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Thursday, July 5, 2007 |
 |
![[Image]](/content_images/070507_par-02-a.jpg) |
|
| Steven McCallie’s mug shot at the time of his arrest March 14 in Pinellas Park. |
|
![[Image]](/content_images/070507_par-02-b.jpg) |
|
| Steven McCallie as he appears after two months alcohol free and off the streets. |
|
PINELLAS COUNTY - Steven McCallie has been living on the streets for more years than he likes to remember.
He did state penitentiary time twice for theft and a lot of time in local jails.
He’d been arrested at least than 15 times in Pinellas County since September 2005, the latest on Feb. 14 for trespassing. Other charges over time include battery, felony battery, loitering, prowling, disorderly conduct and possession of an open container.
A self-admitted alcoholic, McCallie, 50, said there aren’t too many drugs he hasn’t tried.
He’s slept in doorways, in alleys, behind buildings, in woods and at homeless camps.
And now he’s on his way toward rehabilitating himself at the Suncoast Area Adult Rehabilitation Center on 66th Street in St. Petersburg. He credits Pinellas Park Officer Steven Vangeli and his civilian partner, Sharon Nivens, who form the Homeless Outreach Team, for the key to his new future.
Now cleaned up, neatly dressed and two months into alcohol recovery, McCallie was born and raised near Little Rock, Ark., where he started drinking before age 13.
“My father was an alcoholic,” McCallie said. “So maybe it’s hereditary.” He has two brothers and two sisters, none of them homeless, and admits to being a troubled teen.
“I found my comfort zone in alcohol,” McCallie said. “I was drunk most of the time.” A bricklayer and construction worker by trade, McCallie said he wants to turn a new leaf.
“I was sick and tired of being sick,” he said.
McCallie said there are many highly talented and educated people living on the streets. He would like to form a group of them to build a homeless shelter on donated land.
“I know street people that are carpenters, electricians and contractors,” he said. “Why not use those talents for some good?” McCallie described his old self as a “not very nice person with a violent past.
“People must understand that we are not homeless because we want to be,” he said.
McCallie contends that in the end it’s taxpayers who pay for homelessness.
“I live life one day at a time,” he said. “I have a card that says I’m sober and I look at it a lot.” Since joining the rehabilitation program McCallie and his former wife have been talking. He even spent time with his teenage son on Father’s Day. He feels that doors are beginning to open for him, he’s making friends and feels good, and useful.
Joseph Mottola, assistant administrator of the rehabilitation center, knows what an addictive lifestyle is all about. Once a $100,000-a-year General Motors executive, the Brooklyn-born caregiver lost everything to alcohol and drugs.
“I was an alcoholic for 34 years and a crack addict for nine,” he said.
“I’ve lost my drivers license for life and did time at a state penitentiary for felony driving on a suspended license.” Mottola said he lived for alcohol and visits to the “dopeman.” He lived on the streets and he blames no one but himself.
“I tried crack cocaine and I loved it,” Mottola said.
It was the very program that he now helps run that changed his life. He has earned a master’s degree in social work and psychology, married a nurse and now dedicates his life to helping others.
“There are more homeless people out there than you can imagine,” Mottola said. “In Pinellas Park there are about 50 that are visible, but hundreds more that aren’t.” The rehabilitation center houses about 170 people, about 80 percent of them former street dwellers who come from detoxification centers.
“We help those in need of help,” Mottola said. “That’s what we do ...”
|
Article published on Thursday, July 5, 2007
Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Tampa Bay Newspapers
9911 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 397-5563
Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
|
|
