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Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘A walking example of hope’ – Harbor Light center appoints first Black executive director

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The Harbor Light Center, an addiction recovery facility on the city’s northwest side, touts itself as a place that provides new beginnings to those overcoming drug or alcohol addictions. However, K. Kendall Mathews, the center’s new executive director, says envisioning an addiction-free future can be harder for patients who feel they can’t relate to the leadership and staff offering support.

“Many of the men and women who come through this program are of African decent, so when they see leaders guiding them through the program who look like them and have common experiences, it gives them hope,” said Mathews.

Mathews and his wife Katrina are the Salvation Army’s first officers of color to be in charge of the Harbor Light Center since its launch in 1949. Salvation Army officers are ordained Christian ministers who fulfill roles not typically filled by clergy, with the goal of meeting both spiritual and physical needs of the community. In addition to addiction recovery, those roles can include aiding in disaster relief, operating thrift stories and charity shops or helping to alleviate homelessness. Though the couple has been with the Harbor Light Center for little over a month, they have worked with the Salvation Army in addiction recovery and homeless outreach for more than 25 years in Michigan, Illinois and Missouri. 

According to the Indiana State Department of Health, trips to the ER due to drug overdoses in Indiana increased by nearly 60 percent in a recent five-year period.

The topic of substance abuse and addiction hits close to home to Mathews, who saw the impact alcoholism had on his family firsthand. Mathews says his father was a heavy “weekend drinker” who would sober up on Sundays in time for work on Monday.

“I would often see him come home filthy drunk. He wasn’t abusive, and he was a great provider for our family, but he had a problem,” said Mathews. “In 1978, he had a terrible car accident that was alcoholism related. I remember my dad praying and asking the Lord to remove his urge for drinking, and God did that. It changed his life. That also led me to this, and that is why I am working in the business of reclaiming people and restoring them back to their families.” 

Harbor Light aims to rebuild broken homes and broken lives by offering a variety of services. Patients can detox with medical assistances from licensed caregivers, sign up for a 14-day addictions program, take advantage of affordable transitional housing and ensure continued success with outpatient treatment services and support groups. About 14 percent of the people being served are African-American. While about 40 percent of people who take part in these programs are court ordered to be there, others feel they have reached rock bottom and sign themselves up for the program.

“They are at world’s end, sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they just walk in. Family members might have said, ‘You need to come in and reclaim your life.’ It’s a combination of the community, the court and concerned people encouraging them to take their life back,” Mathews said. 

To the Mathews family, faith is at the forefront of their efforts. Katrina, who is the Corps Officer of the Indianapolis Harbor Light Center, pastors a church at the rehabilitation facility and encourages patients to find the strength to keep going, and Kendall seeks to let his beliefs guide him while serving as executive director. He says having leaders in charge who represent diversity is “eternally significant.”

“I had parents who encouraged me to give back to society. That’s why I don’t want to just be in society, I want to be a contributor in helping to resolve social problems,” he said. “The people who come through these doors need to see hope, not read the word hope or hear people talking about hope, but they need to see walking examples of hope among them with faces and experiences they can connect with. This is what we present to all people, but practically to those who are of African decent.” 

 

For more information about the Harbor Light Center, call (317) 929-3002 or visit corps.salvationarmyindiana.org/harborlight. 

Major K. Kendall Mathews (right), executive director of the Indianapolis Harbor Light Center, and his wife, Major Katrina D. Mathews, are the first Black Salvation Army officers to be in charge of the Harbor Light Center since its establishment in 1949.

The topic of substance abuse and addiction hits close to home to K. Kendall, who saw the impact alcoholism had on his family firsthand.

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