NFCS sponsored a study visit to the Dunklin Memorial Church

From February 24th to March 7th, a study trip to the Dunklin Memorial Church (DMC) in Florida was attended by Viljam Borissenko and Liis Borissenko, members of the board of the Public Foundation of Hope and Mihkel Nõlvak, member of the board of the Samaaria Mission in Estonia.

They attended the DMC Regeneration Program Leadership Gathering 2020, which brought together nearly a hundred executives and employees from nearly 30 organizations across the US, as well as from Canada, Kenya and Estonia. All united organizations and leaders share the same vision; to help addicts change their lives. For the most places, the year-long DMC residental curriculum have been used, which is delveloped during last 60 years. The conference also provided an opportunity to introduce the work, developments and vision of Estonian rehabilitation centers.

The Leadership Conference was followed by a three-day DMC program for the graduates (DMC 2020 Homecoming) of DMC, which brought together nearly 400 people; all the graduates from DMC and their families.

After the gathering, meetings were held with Dunklin Memorial Church leaders. The Samaaria Mission in Estonia started recently classes in Haapsalu and Pärnu centers using the same curriculum and the meetings at the DMC have a direct benefit to suport to get programs going in Estonia. Beside  Samaaria, the New Generation NGO and the New Opportunity NGO have begun teaching the same program, with Viljam Borissenko helping to run the classes.

The Dunklin Memorial Church rehabilitation center is a camp that has been helping addicts for 58 years. There are almost 250 permanent residents, former addicts and their families, all of whom are employed or volunteered at the center, including those who is in residental program. DMC can provide assistance to nearly 100 recovering addicts at a time. During the program, the addict is guided to see the causes and consequences of their addiction and encouraged to rebuild broken relationships. They are taught to rely on each other, to work on a daily basis, to how solve problems, to respect the environment, to care for themselves and others – to do what they may not have been able to do so far. https://www.dunklin.org/stages

The purpose of the study trip was to share experiences, find opportunities for co-work and share ideas for development in perspective provide high quality help for addicts in centers of Estonia.

The study trip of Viljam Borissenko and Mihkel Nõlvak was suported through the NFCS travel grant program.