Overdose Awareness Day, a story of hope is building in Pittsburgh’s OD capitol of Carrick.
At top: Self-described “recovering addict” and former drug dealer Gus DiRenna leads a prayer with a crew of people in recovery as they start work to turn a drug den in the neighborhood into a “Serenity House” for people working on their sobriety and starting a new chapter in their life. The process feeds into DiRenna’s simple formula: people in recovery need a decent room, a job and a community of support. "It just takes not talking at somebody, but reaching your hand out and helping them up, it gets them their hope," said DiRenna. He opened up the home for a preview open house so that the community could see the transformation the space would make:
He was facing cracked windows, crumbling plaster, a charred kitchen, a shower wall held together with tape … all the features you’d expect in a 117-year-old, five-bedroom house that ended up on the block watch’s list of drug hotspots. “See, when I look at this, I see opportunity, job training, kids making a little bit of money,” said Mr. DiRenna, recovery director of the ARK Allegheny Recovery Krew. “There’s going to be a lot of laughter and fun going on in here.”
Read more from Rich Lord at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the series of Serenity Houses DiRenna and his crew are building in their attempt to turn “OD Road” into “Recovery Road.”
See more from Pittsburgh photojournalist Stephanie Strasburg at her website here, her blog here, or Instagram here.
