Diverse in age and race, the group is assembled for a monthly Birthday Night, which will celebrate three residents whose birthdays fall in May as well as 18 men who are marking sobriety anniversaries of one month to 14 years.

Executive director Brent Burmaster, who marked 14 years of recovery from alcoholism in June, stands behind a vintage wood lectern exuberantly dispensing gold-plated sobriety coins along with personal praise for each recipient.

Residents pray after a meeting at Soul’s Harbor in Dallas.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

Many of the residents have cycled in and out of rehabilitation programs. Most have been in jail — some prison — so Burmaster developed Soul’s Harbor’s six-month residency program using a holistic approach along with principles from his 25-year career as an IBM sales executive. “In addition to being sober, we want to get them on the right path,” he says.

Multifaceted approach

The strategy incorporates occupational therapy in service of the nonprofit or its four thrift stores — a major source of funding — as well as mental health therapy, CrossFit exercise, money management training, yoga, temporary jobs with partner companies like Eddie Deen & Co. Catering, health care via a weekly mobile clinic operated by Parkland Health & Hospital System, pet therapy with Pepper and guidance about educational opportunities and trade school.

Most of the residents have children, and a Nurturing Fathers Program is set to start in September.

Birthday Night starts with a special meal catered by Panda Express and a slice of sheet cake. But as the men roar their approval of each and every achievement in controlling addiction, it’s clear that they are here for camaraderie, mutual support and, perhaps most important, hope.

Residents with May birthdays get gifts during a celebration at Soul’s Harbor.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

Former resident Kevin Jackson, whom Burmaster affectionately calls his “son,” takes the floor.
“It’s a great day to be,” Jackson says.
“YEAH!” the men shout.
“It’s a great day to be clean.”
“YEAH!”
“It’s a great day to be sober.”
“YEAH!”

“When you learn to celebrate each other, your life is gonna change,” says Jackson, who has been sober for seven years. “When I came to Soul’s Harbor, I didn’t know if I was gonna stay. I just didn’t want to go back to what drove me here.”

Jackson had been paroled in 2012 following a robbery conviction and entered a recovery ministry, but two years later, he was back on crack cocaine.

At Soul’s Harbor, he “gave himself permission to live his life differently” and stayed long enough to form relationships with men who had been practicing sobriety longer.

“I just want you to know, bro, it’s doable,” Jackson tells them.

Juan Nunez holds his six-month sobriety chip at Soul’s Harbor.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

‘Do the right thing’

Next up is Tanner “Bullet” Hole, who was paroled in February after serving 18 years for harboring a runaway child and aggravated assault of a public servant. He has been sober for 14 years and is staying at Soul’s Harbor as he transitions back to society.

“One month, two months, those are the hardest times when it’s going to be eating at you the hardest,” he tells the group. “But I saw more drugs in prison than I ever saw in the free world.”

“I just want to encourage you to do the right thing,” he concludes.

After the program, resident Steven “Link” Branum says such testimony “is motivating, especially for the guys with long sobriety.”

Burmaster started Birthday Night only a few weeks after he joined the nonprofit in 2009, when one of the residents mentioned it had been years since he’d had birthday cake.

“Birthday Night is our happiest night of the month,” Burmaster says. “It’s amazing to watch these guys like Kevin, who was sleeping on Martin Luther King [Jr.] Boulevard and turned his life around.”

“Brent is interested in, ‘How do you fix these problems,’” says restaurateur Eddie Deen, who gives a biannual workshop at the shelter about abandoning old thinking patterns and self-destructive behavior.

While Soul’s Harbor clearly has a spiritual element, and Burmaster and others often praise God, the program is not based on religion.

Men relax in their dorm at Soul’s Harbor in Dallas.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)