A pioneer in addiction recovery and community advocacy retires
After 47 years, Turning Point founder and CEO Dr. Vincent “Peter” Hayden announced that he is stepping down at the beginning of 2024. Dr. Hayden was instrumental in Turning Point receiving national acclaim for its contributions to addiction recovery and advocacy. He credits Turning Point’s success to the beginning of his own journey of sobriety half a century ago.
Settling in North Minneapolis in the mid-1960s, he recognized the impact of substance abuse and addiction on the community, something he had struggled with during his time in the military.
After completing his service in the Army in 1964, Dr. Hayden found himself dealing with the same addiction that plagued many in his community. He recalls his social worker’s words on the first day of recovery: “If you accept the program, your life will never be the same.”
Recognizing the need for culturally specific treatment in Minnesota, Turning Point was founded in North Minneapolis in 1976, pioneering a socially and ethnically responsive approach to recovery by integrating a cultural understanding in the treatment process, specifically for the Black community. It allowed Turning Point to tailor its treatment to the specific needs of the community, addressing environmental factors crucial to the recovery of its clients.
Over the years, Turning Point expanded its services, providing treatment as well as training other organizations to adopt a similar approach to recovery. His leadership guided Turning Point in serving 26,000 clients on their path to recovery.
Lori Wilson, who first joined the organization in 2001, and returned as chief financial officer in 2022, will lead the organization in its next chapter. “No one is more equipped and capable than her to usher Turning Point into a new era,” said Dr. Hayden.
As an ambassador and consultant for Turning Point, Dr. Hayden’s legacy endures as he takes on a new role.
In a wide-ranging interview for the debut of the “Tracey’s Keepin’ it Real” program, MSR Publisher and CEO Tracey Williams-Dillard (TDW) spoke with Dr. Peter Hayden (PH) and his successor Lori Wilson (LW) about Turning Point’s legacy, its contributions to the community, and what lies ahead.
TDW: Tell me a little bit about how Turning Point got started. I remember doing an internship at Turning Point when I was 14 years old, at the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse (IBCA). Let’s start there.
PH: In 1975, IBCA started. In 1976, Turning Point started. The reason we did that is because we had to have an organization that would pump the energy into a “turning point.” We got the clients after [IBCA], because we wanted to make sure who was ready for outpatient and who was ready for inpatient treatment. We had young people like you and older people like myself and Peter Bell, and others. We had a sound group of people who could advocate for the community and speak out.
That’s one of the reasons I brought Lori [Wilson] in. I’m 80 years old. I’ve been running Turning Point for 47 years. It’s time. There comes a time for everybody when they decide what they’re going to do with their lives. You can either stand up or sit down. Either way, you gotta be breathing.
Turning Point has done a great job helping over 26,000 men and women. When we started, we were a co-ed program and we’re going to go back to that.
I’m looking forward to stepping into another phase of life. People say, ‘Oh, you’re retiring?’ No, I’m going to take another step. I’m going to be the new ambassador for Turning Point. I’ll get out there and let people know what Turning Point has done.
There are four foundations that funded us: Cargill, General Mills, the McKnight Foundation and Honeywell. I’m going to send them a note and tell them, this is what your money has done over 47 years and thousands of people. And those people are not the same as they were before.
TWD: What was the mission then, when you started Turning Point, compared to today?
PH: We were a culturally specific service center. Back then, the emphasis was on Black men and women. And I had no qualms about that. Today, it’s a little different. Back then, we saw so many Black men and women not being served in the community. We saw a void in that. So our mission was, “We find you wherever you are. It’s our job to make you healthy.” Our motto was, “It’s a time and place to change your mind.”
TWD: What were some of the qualifications for people to get into Turning Point?
PH: We didn’t have any qualifications. If you were an alcoholic, if you had a drug problem, you could come to Turning Point.
TWD: Walk me through what a day is like at Turning Point?
PH: Back in the day, we had a bench that you would sit on when you first walked in. And we would ask everyone who came in, “Why are you here?” Ninety-nine percent of the people, it took them three to four days to figure it out.
They thought that the answer was complicated. But all they had to say was, “My life is unmanageable, and I need someone to help me.”
The program was a year. That’s why the outcomes were so great. You came there until you got yourself together. Our program was administered around where you were. We used the 12 steps of AA, but we also used the seven steps of Kwanzaa. It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or Muslim, because you are a drug addict or a drunk.
It’s time to turn the page, and that’s where Lori Wilson comes in
TWD: Lori Wilson, can you talk about the future of Turning Point?
LW: We just received $500,000 from the city that we are planning to use to update some of the programming and facilities at Turning Point. It’s really about our clients and them getting what they deserve and what they need to be productive citizens. The money from the city will help, but we’re looking at raising money through the bonding bill.
Before the $500,000, we got $1,000,000 from the state through Senator Bobby Joe Champion. That was an awesome experience and thank you Peter for helping me through that. I had never given testimony before the state legislature before that. But within weeks we were awarded the $1,000,000 in funding.
But even before that, Councilmember Vetaw really put us back on the map. Her mother had been through the program some years ago. So, she has a vested interest in the program. We’re trying to reconfigure the space so it can hold more people because there’s a real need.
TWD: How long do they stay with Turning Point, and what tools do you offer to help clients stay sober?
LW: They stay there for 90 days, then they get re-evaluated. So, if they need to stay longer, they can stay longer. We’ve got a counseling staff of about five, right now. They stay about 90 days and then they move to our other residential housing. We have our peer-recovery coaches, so clients know what to do when they leave.
We provide other resources such as educational and job resources, so that they can be okay once they leave. We also have mental health counseling, so that you can get to the root causes of the problem—what happened. What happened in someone’s life that started them drinking or doing drugs. There’s something behind that.
We recently got a grant from Hennepin County for opioid treatment that’s really devastating the community.
TWD: How do people get in touch with Turning Point? How can they reach out if they need some help?
LW: Sometimes it’s just a phone call. Our number is 612-520-4004. We also have a website, so that you can connect that way: turningpoint.org. And word-of-mouth. Folks can stop by. Folks know where we’re at: 1500 Golden Valley Road. The doors are always open.
One of the things you asked, Tracey, that I want to get back to is, what’s the vision. Peter and I have thought about it a lot. Turning Point is just in North Minneapolis right now. Just imagine what it would be like having Turning Point in South Dakota, in Iowa, in Waterloo, in all these different satellites. That 26,000—just blow that out the water.
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