Introduction by Croakey Professional Services: In September 2024, Dr Mark Ragg visited a remarkable drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation centre on the NSW Central Coast.
In the post below he describes a typical day at The Glen for Men, where the model of care places culture at the core of healing, and dance is used to help build bridges between clients, staff and the wider community.
This article is part of the #IndigenousEvaluation series, which highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led services, and healing-informed narratives of individuals, across lifespans, strengths-based principles, and more.
Dr Mark Ragg is the minority owner of Yulang Indigenous Evaluation, which is sponsoring this series.
Mark Ragg writes:
On sixteen hectares of beautiful Darkinjung land, on the NSW central coast, The Glen for Men is a haven for men seeking to get on top of their drug and alcohol issues and change their lives.
Each day the men are up by seven am, although a couple of mornings a week, optional gym sessions and runs start at 5.30am.
After breakfast comes morning group around a fire, sometimes led by a guest, sometimes led by staff.
Yarning for progress
The morning I visit The Glen for Men, Lenny Steele, fifty years and four months sober, leads the group with skill and warmth. “Part of the purpose of The Glen is to introduce you to yourself, and hope that you get to like yourself,” he says.
He shepherds the men skilfully to talk through a planned sequence – how they’re feeling now, then the good times of drink and drugs, then the consequences to themselves, and the consequences to others, and how they deal with bad days, which are plentiful.
He’s part storyteller, part comforting blanket as the men speak about their fears, their pain, their regrets and how much they need the support of their peers.
Many speak of the need to start again, to earn trust, to rebuild themselves, to learn how to live without crime, to earn the right to resume the places they’ve lost in family life.
Some know they will need to stay away from the towns they grew up in. Some know their friends aren’t their friends, just people they were doing the same stuff as. Some know they’ve made progress, and slipped back, but can make progress again.
A few are fresh, still angry, but most seem too keen on learning to acknowledge the past and live in the present, to carry anger into the future.
Working together
A morning of work follows the group session – there are no staff to cook, scrub, sweep, wash, mow, water, weed or repair anything.
For some, it’s a chance to share a skill with others – there’s always a good cook or two. For others, it’s a chance to learn a skill that their childhood never exposed them to. For all, it’s a chance to develop routines that take time and bring satisfaction.
They work in groups, rotating tasks, keeping each other up to scratch. During that time, men take time out from tasks for one-on-ones with a GP, with a counsellor, with a nurse, with a financial counsellor, with a tutor.
And there are group sessions with parole officers, with employment services, with legal advisors. Relationships Australia offers groups on relationships, on parenting and on managing stress, anger and strong emotions. There’s plenty of opportunity to learn.
And there’s dance. The Glen dance group draws on current clients, former clients, and staff to learn and celebrate Aboriginal culture and promote reconciliation around the central coast and in Sydney.
Creativity, culture, connection and community
The dancing helps clients with their spirit, and with feeling connected, and is a source of pride and strength. The largely Aboriginal staff and largely Aboriginal clients both lead the connection to culture and respond to it.
And there’s a beautiful music room, with gear donated by people like Gumbaynggir and Bundjalung singer-songwriter Troy Cassar-Daley, who’s been a good friend to The Glen. And an enormous gym, built largely by clients and staff with donated materials.
And there’s being part of the community. The men go to the beach, to parks, get out and about. They provide support at community events. When the region floods, as it does regularly, they pack sandbags and deliver food. They support and are supported by community.
A centred approach
The Glen for Men draws on a model of care developed by ADARRN (Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Residential Rehabilitation Network), which places culture at the core of healing.
Underlying it is an abstinence model, with a flavour of twelve step recovery programs. Clients can be tested for drugs and alcohol at any time. Staff can enter any room at any time. All aspects of the program are compulsory. Television is limited, phones are limited, and it’s quiet time from ten pm on, with lights off at eleven.
In the first few weeks, the restrictions are tighter. The structure helps, as does the constant support and the love in the air, the atmosphere of doing your best and being surrounded by people who are not using or drinking.
After the twelve weeks are up, clients can apply for transitional housing in one of the two five-person homes on site.
It’s not automatic – clients must apply and show that they participated fully in the program. But if successful, transitional housing allows men from outside the region to set down roots on the central coast near the support they will need.
Marking an anniversary
A month or so after my initial visit, I found myself back The Glen, to attend the centre’s 30th anniversary celebration.
A crowd of 500 or more gathered for a smoking ceremony followed by dance and winningly short speeches, some delivered by local politicians who clearly had long supportive relationships with the organisation.
A short video told the story, largely from the perspective of men who have been through The Glen and benefitted. A few quotes from the video make a good way to end this story.
- “This place loves us back to life.”
- “You dig deep within your soul. You tell people things you’ve never told anybody, even your partner. You’re brothers for life.”
- “The Glen is based in culture. With culture, I have identity.”
- “For these blokes, living an ordinary life is extraordinary.”
Yulang Indigenous Evaluation is an Aboriginal-led business that works with communities and clients to research and evaluate policies and programs that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mark Ragg MBBS BA is a non-Indigenous man with long and varied experience in health, policy, and research, and more recently justice.
Acknowledgements
The #IndigenousEvaluation series of articles was conceived and organised by Professor Megan Williams and Dr Mark Ragg and is edited by Dr Ruth Armstrong.
Bookmark this link to follow the series.
The series is sponsored by Yulang Indigenous Evaluation, which respects the independence of the authors and the editors.
On Twitter, follow #IndigenousEvaluation.
