Here to Help
As Chad Bloom can attest from firsthand experience, the Narconon rehab program can bring ‘ice’ addicts back to live a productive, drug-free life
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Narconon graduate Russ Kidd
volunteers to renovate the
new facility
pleased. The informational kit has been valuable in his school presentations to elementary and high school students.
“We not only talk to students about career choices, but we try to address life choices as well,” he says.
As a former law enforcement officer and someone who has family members who went astray on drugs, he knows firsthand what destruction addicts face.
Young Chad Bloom recalls his own misguided journey. “When you’re using drugs, there’s no realization about what it’s doing to your quality of life,” he says. “That’s not what’s on your mind. You live for the moment and what’s going to get me by for the next five minutes ... not what will happen tomorrow or in a week, month, or year from now.”
His mother did not know where to turn for help until her daughter consulted the Internet for information on drug rehabilitation, where she learned about Narconon and its impressive success rate. Naturally, there are many worthwhile drug treatment centers and programs. Many of them sound like luxury resorts and fabulous spas, ranging in recovery settings from alluring mountain retreats to tropical beachside camps.
The Blooms spent many hours on the phone with a Narconon counselor, who described the program and guided Chad’s family through the admission process. They learned that the program involved drug-free withdrawal, training regimens in communications skills, detoxification to rid the body of toxins, and a comprehensive series of life skills.
Chad went to Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma for his drug treatment. That’s because there is no facility in Hawaii ... yet. That will change in a matter of months, thanks to the community’s contributions and continued involvement of supporters like Preston and Travolta.
A two-story building with 60 beds will be ready as soon as renovation to an existing facility on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property at Kalaeloa is completed. The Zelinsky Company, Kapolei-based painting and finishing contractors, owned by Chad’s family, has made a substantial contribution, reportedly valued at more than $10,000, to the facility.
The new Narconon center at Kalaeloa
“Getting help is not easy,” Chad says. “You need to swallow your pride, but this program will help you rebuild that pride. You have to realize what you’re going through, what you’re doing to people who love you, and you need to know who your true friends are. It’s a rebuilding process.
“I didn’t want to tell people that I was going to rehab,” he continues. “Now that I’m out, when they ask me where I was I say, ‘I was in rehab.’ It’s done so much for me. It’s not a bad thing. I can be honest because it’s worth it.”
His mother adds, “He needed to take care of his past wrong -doing and got wonderful support from everybody, including creditors. They respect you for getting help.”
Chad says he feels “excellent” now. He weighs 137 pounds, with a goal of reaching 140. “I know how to take on the world now,” he says confidently. “I have this new knowledge and new power.”
Chad’s accepted a job on a cruise line and will be going back to work soon. Some day he’d like to start his own interior design business.
He’s already managed inferior design, we thought. Interior design will be a piece of cake.
Preston agrees, saying changes like Chad’s situation give her hope for the program in Hawaii. Combined with a stepped-up public awareness campaign by other groups, the level of ice use among teens has reportedly decreased over the past three years.
Working collectively, Preston states, community involvement is making a difference. Preston credits Narconon’s rehabilitation for helping her stop taking drugs for good, so she speaks from experience.
As Preston looks at a framed MidWeek cover showing her with daughter Ella Bleu, published several years ago, she implores fellow Islanders to do what’s right for the next generation.
She is monitoring Narconon’s progress in Hawaii very closely. This is not a onetime celebrity endorsement, she claims. She and her husband will evidently be involved until there is no more drug crisis in paradise. When that happens, we should give Preston and Travolta advanced degrees in humanitarian studies.
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