23. September 2024

Episode 130—The Reason Is Love - Ft. Tonya Doucette of Project Trey–Recovery Café in Lake Charles, Louisiana - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

I have always been in awe of those with the gift of human empathy, who seem to sense when someone else is hurting or in need. I've been blessed many times to be the giver of aid when I sensed the suffering of others, often hiding my pains and sufferings from the world at large, preferring to try to unravel those entanglements on my own. I have realized that events and circumstances will take you by surprise, and no amount of preparation and redundancies will suffice if you try to navigate the troubles alone.

An empathetic friend and client recently picked up on a personal pain weighing heavily on my heart and mind. In that moment of insight and kindness, she used her gift to point me toward a local who has traveled the roads I now found myself on, experiencing the most significant grief a parent could know, transmuting that sorrow into the right action and resources for others, like me and mine, who now find ourselves somewhat wandering along the myriads paths of addiction and substance abuse.

In this episode of Find the Good News, I visited with Tonya Doucette, Founder of Project Trey–Recovery Café in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she works to honor and remember her son Trey by providing a safe space for those in addiction recovery to gather, learn, grow, and be loved as they begin the hard work of one-day-at-a-time living.

This encounter with Tonya could not have come at a more critical time when being present and supportive of a loved one requires wrangling fears, anxieties, legalities, and social stigma. Sitting with Tonya at Project Trey–Recovery Café offered comfort and motivation to travel the road ahead in strength because I could see clearly that she had traveled this road before us, for us.

I often ask my guests, "Why do something instead of nothing?" I know why Tonya does what she does and has devoted her mind, time, and heart to helping those in recovery find their way forward—she does it because of love.

Some time has passed since Tonya and I had this conversation, and in that time, I have seen the results of her love firsthand as she helps our family journey through the concentric rings surrounding an addiction event. I am on the frontline of a healing event, and as I watch the wounds mend and scar over, I feel gratitude for Tonya and her son Trey.

So, I invite you to sit with Tonya Doucette and me at Project Trey–Recovery Café in Lake Charles, Louisiana. If you're in recovery, I encourage you to continue to find your reason one day at a time. If it gets hard—when it gets hard—there's a space full of loving people waiting for you at Project Trey.