A stranger鈥檚 act of kindness restored hope, and changed a life
After nearly a decade of struggling with drug addiction, Megan Cohen turned her life around. At 28, she leads The Grace Project, helping those who are unhoused and needing help in Philadelphia.听Episode 2 of the "People Making a Difference" podcast.听
The Grace Project is the story of one woman鈥檚 journey of redemption and hope, and a developing quest to 鈥減ay forward.鈥� Megan Cohen emerged from nearly a decade of drug addiction thanks in part to the kindness of strangers. A year into sobriety, she started giving back. First, it was to help those living on the streets of Philadelphia. But her generosity continues to sprout wings. She recently started the 鈥淕ive a Little Hope鈥� program for children in her community dealing with poverty, illness, or a parent鈥檚 addiction. 鈥淚 didn't want The Grace Project to only be about addiction. I wanted it to be about hope,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause my story is not one about addiction. It鈥檚 about hope and the power that hope can have, and when it鈥檚 restored in you, what it can do.鈥�
Episode transcript
[Music]
Dave Scott: That鈥檚 Megan Cohen, founder of The Grace Project in Warrington, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. And as you listen to excerpts of our conversation, you鈥檒l see that this is a story about a woman鈥檚 personal journey of redemption and generosity and a quest to pay it forward.
Welcome to People Making a Difference, a podcast about people who are step by step making a better world.听
I鈥檓 Dave Scott.听
Welcome Meg.
Dave Scott: Meg was a good student, played sports, had friends, but in high school she started partying, first using alcohol then a few pills, because, [as] she told me, she thought she was too smart to get hooked. But the path to addiction is often a slippery slope and a familiar one for families caught in what has become a national opioid epidemic. And by the time she was 26, she鈥檇 been in and out of 71 rehab centers. And in jail four times, mostly for theft. She鈥檇 lived homeless in the streets of Miami, Detroit, Palm Springs, and the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, which is the biggest outdoor drug market on the East Coast.
But there was a turning point about two years ago. She was the recipient of small acts of kindness by complete strangers. So I started by asking her about those acts of kindness and why they touched her.
Dave Scott: Wow. So what did you mean when you said, 鈥渢hat was my God moment鈥�?
Dave Scott: So after that God moment, Meg calls her mom to come pick her up 鈥� knowing that her mom would legally and morally have to turn her into the police. Meg had outstanding warrants for her arrest. Meg serves two months in jail, then a drug-court judge decides to give her one more shot at turning around her life and sends her to a rehab program instead of the Pennsylvania state prison.
Fast forward, one year later, Meg is in recovery, still sober. She鈥檚 got a job and that鈥檚 when, after a conversation with her mom, she starts The Grace Project. Every Thursday night, Meg and other volunteers go to the streets of Philadelphia to hand out food and water, clothing, and hygiene kits. Essentially, she鈥檚 going back to the same places where she lived on the streets. The Grace Project has been going on now for about a year, but I asked Meg how it got started.
Dave Scott: Beautiful. I love it. I was on your website and I saw that you鈥檝e got T-shirts and hoodies and things like that. And on the back of the T-shirts it says, 鈥淗ope dealer,鈥� which I think is very clever, but it鈥檚 also a tall promise. What have you learned about dealing hope?
Dave Scott: And given that perspective that you can bring, when you have a conversation with someone on the street, do you feel like they鈥檙e listening? Going back to Meg of five years ago, when you鈥檙e talking to somebody, do you think 鈥渢hey鈥檙e not listening, they鈥檙e not ready?鈥� How do you gauge where they are in that journey and whether they鈥檙e willing to be helped?
Dave Scott: What advice would you give to the family of someone struggling with addiction? Now, your relationships are good [with your family]. But over the last 10 years, when you were on this journey, there were some difficult times between you and your family.听 If you were giving advice to another family, who鈥檚 wrestling with the challenge of watching a child or a sibling become addicted to drugs, what would you say?
Dave Scott: So, you鈥檝e been in rehab. You tried to get off drugs like 70 times at this point. What happened on that 71st attempt that was so different?
Dave Scott:聽I鈥檓 thinking back to the first story you told us, where you were a recipient of an act of kindness. This one woman brought you in and gave you a shower 鈥� the stranger did. It seems that you鈥檝e come full circle. You are now the stranger offering kindness in Kensington. So, how has The Grace Project transformed you over the past year?
[Music]
Dave Scott: I don鈥檛 know if you heard it, but I was impressed when Meg began her Grace Project, and the donations started to flow, that she wanted the project to have integrity. That meant setting up a proper nonprofit, registering it, and creating a governing board and a treasurer. This is still a baby nonprofit, barely a year old. And while it was born out of Meg鈥檚 recovery and a desire to give back, she鈥檚 got a bigger vision. As she says, 鈥渢o grow beyond helping addicts.鈥� She recently started the 鈥淕ive a Little Hope鈥欌�� program for children dealing with poverty, illness or parental addiction. And Meg and her board are looking at other ideas, such as supporting other 鈥済ood Samaritans鈥� in the community.
To learn more about her efforts, go to the website: .听
And here鈥檚 this week鈥檚 challenge: Commit an act of kindness to a stranger.听
It doesn鈥檛 have to be a grand gesture, like bringing a person who is homeless into your home for a shower. It can be something modest, such as letting a stranger go ahead of you in line, or lending a helping hand, or paying it forward at Starbucks. Then, tell me how it went: Call me at (617) 450-2410 and leave me a voice message about what happened. That鈥檚 (617) 450-2410.听
Thanks for listening to People Making a Difference, a podcast about people 鈥� like you 鈥� who are, step-by-step, making a better world.
This podcast was produced by 海角大神, copyright 2021
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