‘Healthy Hive’ helps addicts, regardless of means

By Mark Ellis –

Dirk Eldredge walked away from the Christian faith imparted by his mother and became a drug addict and alcoholic during his college years at USC. But years later, God freed him from his addictions, and he became a drug interventionist and counselor for Pete Carroll’s Trojan and Seahawks football teams.

He has led nearly 1,000 crisis interventions across the U.S. and abroad and founded two nationally recognized intervention companies. Eldredge served as CEO of Jaywalker Lodge, a men’s residential treatment program, and later led Momenta Recovery, a residential healing center for women.

“There’s 4300 treatment centers in America and a couple of dozen that you would actually entrust with a loved one,” Eldredge says. “That’s a dramatic exaggeration, but not entirely. There’s a lot of really great people, and there’s also a lot of really nefarious characters that are in it for the wrong reasons, that are bilking insurance and treating people in a very unsafe way,” he says.

One problem is that short-term care has limitations. “Thirty days of care is not enough. That’s well documented. The Betty Ford Clinic, Hazelton, Karen Foundation — these are the mother ships of treatment. For example, they came out with a 30-day model, 40 or 50 years ago, and it doesn’t work.”

The other problem with rehab centers is their affordability. “Most people can’t afford quality care. I would argue that the system is broken and there are a lot of people out there suffering.”

When he ran treatment centers, he felt terrible about turning people away. “Many phone calls a day came in from people trying to get help that couldn’t afford it. That really burdened my heart,” he says.

He observed that some affluent people showed up in rehab with less than humble hearts, and didn’t have the degree of desperation necessary to overcome their addiction. But those who were humble and appreciative of the professional help — and committed to do the work — had much better outcomes.

In response, Eldredge co-founded Healthy Hive Healing, a non-profit that helps people connect with high-quality care providers and offers supplemental financial support to help them access services to overcome their addictions.

“We match people that are assessed as highly willing to change and provide them the resources required to access quality mental health care. That could mean private therapy. It could mean intervention, case management, detox inpatient care, outpatient care, and sober living.”

“I want to help families that are struggling with clinical depression or substance use disorder and treat them the same way I’ve treated affluent families for decades,” he says.

Healthy Hive will not be able to help everyone. They will not have a bricks and mortar facility. “My objective is not to help the most people possible. My objective is to steward the funds with integrity and exercise my awareness about the fact that healing is a process, not an event, and I want to treat everybody that I take on in a way that I would treat my own son or daughter.”

Eldredge is a strong Christian, and a return to faith was instrumental for him to overcome his addictions. “I believe part of your healing needs to be defined as spiritual, not religious. The importance of having a relationship with a loving, living God determines an individual’s ability to heal and move forward in the healthiest possible way.”

“God has put this in in my lap and said, ‘Let’s look for people that are left out of the system because they can’t afford access.’ Yes, because when people show up and say, ‘My heart is troubled, my brain is fried, I’m exhausted, and I need to find a different way to navigate life.’ Then that’s where God shows up and magic happens.”

To learn more about Healthy Hive, go here

Related: He fell into addiction as a USC student