Ex-addicts grateful for Teen Challenge

The director of the local rehabilitation program has been through it himself.
By SUSAN BENDER
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
PETERSBURG -- A message to teens and parents replaced Sunday's traditional morning service at the Petersburg Presbyterian Church when representatives from Teen Challenge International came to preach.
The Rev. Kevin M. Rauch, executive director of Teen Challenge, 1622 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown, told the congregation that he started taking illegal drugs at age 13 and was an addict for 11 years.
He was homeless by age 24, when he joined the Navy. He was eventually discharged for drug abuse.
What changed
Then, on Aug. 28, 1982, a friend's mother took him to a Jesus rally, and it was there, he says, that he found the mercy of the Lord.
Speaking directly to a group of teens, the Rev. Mr. Rauch said, "Don't go down the same road, and it will make my life easier -- because then I won't have to come and fetch you."
Mr. Rauch was introduced to Teen Challenge in New York and worked his way through the one-year program into recovery.
He has been Executive Director of the Youngstown-based branch since 1992. He's also chaplain for the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department and a varsity football coach.
"I have a passion to minister the love of Jesus Christ to young people," Mr. Rauch says. "It's what I'm supposed to do."
'Tough love'
Mr. Rauch then introduced Rick Blevins, the father of a former drug addict teen. Blevins supports the notion of "tough love" and said had to press charges against his son, Mark, for stealing money to support his drug habit.
Blevins turned to his longtime friend New Middletown Police Chief William Morvay for guidance. It was Morvay who put Rick Blevins in touch with the folks at Teen Challenge.
Mark Blevins also spoke Sunday. He noted that he came from a "good, stable home," growing up in Ellsworth.
However, he began drinking alcohol at the age of 13, and that habit quickly snowballed into an addiction to crack cocaine. At age 18, Mark was arrested.
He was introduced to Mr. Rauch while in jail. He turned Mr. Rauch away twice before agreeing to the one-year, faith-based, drug and alcohol program.
"I know I would be dead if it weren't for Teen Challenge," Mark said.
Now, at age 20, Mark Blevins has been clean for more than one year and will soon become a licensed minister.
"It's important that I continue with God's work," he said.
His father, Rick, also works to help others with the same problems and serves on the board of directors for Teen Challenge.