May 12, 2010 - William Phillips didn't visit the juniors and seniors at Wachusett Regional High School just to lecture them on drug and alcohol abuse. Nor did he bring Cheniel Garcia, A.K.A. "Young Biggie," a former drug-dealer and gang-member, for the standard pre-prom consequences-of-destructive-choices scare.
Phillips was there, because 25 years ago, someone reached out to him, and it changed his life. And now he hopes to do the same.
Before he was President and founder of New Beginnings, which provides workshops and mentoring programs on drug and alcohol abuse at all levels of education, Phillips himself struggled with alcohol — and he shared with students how it was tearing his family apart.
The wake-up call came when his nine-year old daughter told him that he had to leave because of his problem.
"Nine years old, you don't do that to your father," he said, "unless you see something going on. Because she saw her father come home drunk all the time, high all the time. She told me that they were willing to live on their own — and that killed me."
His recovery began when Robert C. Campion, first justice of the Framingham District Courts, and Jack Wescott, former principal of Keefe Tech, reached out to him. Now 25 years sober, he's been able to share his experience with kids dealing with the same patterns of abuse.
"The pain then is the pain now," he said. Yet Phillips knows that around this time of year, high school students know that a lecture on drunk driving is par for the course, and so just doing the "same old, same old" would not be enough.
"We don't lecture," he said, "the kids I bring in tell their story, and the students identify with them because they're their own age. We wanted to come in and have discussions, and have them be a part of it."
In addition to speaking generally with entire grades, New Beginnings provides mentoring programs to the kids who need it.
"The thing that we do is connect," said Phillips, "When we leave schools, the Blackberry buzzes. We did one of these last week, and there were 35 kids who contacted me between classes and on the way home. And that's a resource for the school."
In fact, Young Biggie is evidence of Phillips' dedication to being there for the students that need help — even when everybody else has thrown up their hands.
Growing up in a household where his mother's boyfriend would beat his face so hard that he still has bears the dark permanent bruises that stretch from his eyes to his jawline, Biggie eventually found himself smoking and selling marijuana, failing out of school, and burning bridges with the teachers and family members that did care about him.
W
hen he was in class one day, his teacher smelled the marijuana that lingered in Biggies clothes and, having enough, asked Phillips to help him.
"He came up to me and he said, 'I've been hearing a lot about you, I'm going to fix you up,' and I was like, 'yeah, whatever.' And I tried to fight him, but it didn't work," he said.
The same day, Biggie found himself in court.
"The judge said, 'listen, you got two choices, cuz your mother don't want you home. You either get someone to adopt you right now, or you have to go through two years in a program, because you're mother don't feel safe with you.
"I said, I don't have nobody, it is what it is. Give me the two years."
What Biggie didn't know was that Phillips was standing behind him, smiling. He went up to the judge, and signed for Biggie, even without knowing exactly what he was taking on.
After court, when Philips was ready to leave, the Judge stopped him.
"Where are you going?" the judge asked
"I'm going home," said Phillips.
"Well," the judge stressed, "then you better bring your stepson home with you."
Though the pair are certainly an unlikely father and son, the relationship has significantly changed their lives for the better.
"He's been straight for five years, and his life has changed," said Phillips. "And he gets along with my other kids, too."
Moreover, while Biggie has always used poetry as a release for his pain, now that he is free of drug use, he has been a
ble to focus his energies positively, and has a burgeoning rap career.
"It shows kids that if you keep your head in the right direction and stay motivated you'll be able to do something you like," said Phillips, who hopes that his program will be able to help more kids that feel they are out of options.
"So many people come into your life and they leave you," Phillips said. "In the drug and alcohol world, there's not many you can connect with that are positive. So that's the goal, to make sure these people have a place."
While state funding for the program was cut last year, Phillips has kept the program going regardless, and is currently looking for a grant to continue his important work.
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