NAPLES, Fla. — The Scripps Howard Fund, the philanthropic arm of FOX 4’s parent company, E.W. Scripps Company, supports causes important to the company and the communities it serves, like those in Southwest Florida.
Following Hurricane Ian, Scripps organized a relief campaign across its 61 television stations nationwide. Viewers were asked to help the people and communities impacted by the storm with monetary donations and they responded. Over $250,000 has already been raised for recovery efforts in Southwest Florida and that number keeps climbing.
Through our essential community partners, every cent given goes directly to areas where it will do the most good. Over the next several days, FOX 4 will be out presenting $25,000 checks to some of the impactful organizations that will play such an essential role in Southwest Florida’s recovery in the months and years ahead.
Monday, FOX 4 presented a check to the David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health.
FOX 4’s Shari Armstrong spoke to Marckelly Joseph a client at the center’s location in Naples.
He’s receiving 28 days of treatment through the center’s Crossroads Residential Addiction Recovery program.
At the time of this interview, he was 9 days away from being discharged.
That doesn't come without fear, he says.
Marckelly says he's battled drug addiction since he was 13 years old.
“From marijuana to fenty (fentanyl), I’ve done it all.”
Since then, he’s been in and out of incarceration, but he says not without trying to fight his the “numbing feeling” his drug usage often brings.
“I’d just go right back. It’s numbing. It’s an escape.”
That "escape", he says, helps him to cope with the reality he's left to face due to some of his life choices.
He tells FOX 4 he has five children, and he’s lost track of the last time he saw them.
That’s a fact Marckelly’s wants to change.
He says the support he’s received from the David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health has fueled a renewed confidence that has even pushed him to share his story with us.
“They don’t let up. They give me hope. It’s spiritual and mental cleansing here.”
Referring to his previous arrests, our interview, and this article, Marckelly says “This is the first positive thing on the internet about me.”
He hopes the treatment he's received at the center leads to a new life that could also include reuniting with his children.
Possibly leaving the facility in just a few days is "scary", he says. But he feels supported by the team at the center and hopes an extension could lead to additional treatment and support following his discharge.
For more than 50 years, David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health (DLC) has centered around providing life-saving and life-changing behavioral health care services to all those in need.
If you’d like to learn more about the services offered by the David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health, click here. The center provides services ranging from support for depression and anxiety to emergency services.
You can still help FOX 4 with this ongoing mission to rebuild Southwest Florida by visiting fox4now.com/givesor texting FOX4 to 50155.
