27: If You Want to Save Lives, Listen to This

Steven Ginsburg: 0:00

The starfish story is there's thousands of starfish washed up on the beach. There's a little boy throwing them back in the ocean and the old man comes up to him and says it's not going to make a difference to all these starfish and he grabs the one. He says it's going to make a difference to this one, sir, and he throws it in the ocean.

Steve Coughran: 0:14

This is the Addiction Recovery Podcast with Steven T Ginsburg, founder of Restore Detox Centers in sunny California. Enjoy your experience in sunny California. Enjoy your experience. Hey, Steven, here's something that's a little disturbing to me. In the US, there are 333 million people and, according to a recent study, 39 million adults with substance use disorders did not receive treatment in 2022, according to this latest data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and so here I am, thinking that's about 10% of the US who are struggling with these addictions.

Steven Ginsburg: 0:56

They don't get access to the help that they need for a variety of reasons, some of it's financial, some of it's from other reasons, but still some of it's financial some of it's from other reasons, but still there's a lot of people out there that are suffering, that are sick and, tragically, a lot of people die because of this, because they don't get help. And I know you and I talk about this all the time, but what do you see as the biggest barrier for people getting the help that they need to turn their lives around and to heal and become restored? Amongst everything else that you and I have in common, we now have one more thing in common. I'm utterly, devastatingly frustrated by the facts you just shared.

Steven Ginsburg: 1:38

And it is so hard and so sad when there's so much money committed to so many other places and we're not going to get into that when there is an individual who desperately needs help, or a store and we're a six-bed facility Nicole and I are trusted with a six-bed facility and we have to be a good steward of the facility and we're private pay and insurance pay and I've got an individual and whether it's through Medicare or Medi-Cal or they have no insurance and we just can't help them and I don't have the ability to help them bridge the gap and get on this journey of sobriety. It is devastating to me. Within the context of a month, Steve. There's 20 to 30 or more people a month that we just simply can't help and we do the best we can to refer them out. But those facilities they're not six bed facilities where they'll get that type of focus, like they'll get it restored. So it just boggles my mind, it drives me insane and I want to continue to build inroads to get into the solution where that dilemma is concerned.

Steve Coughran: 2:36

Yeah, I agree. I mean, in my day job at Cultivar, I talk with business owners all the time that are struggling financially or they need help with their strategy and sometimes they just don't have the resources to do what it takes to turn their business around, or they don't have the time or the energy or whatever it may be. And I walk away from these relationships thinking, wow, what's to come of them? And that's just from a financial standpoint, that's just money, right, and that's that's not even that big of a deal. You just go make more money.

Steve Coughran: 3:07

But you're in the business where somebody calls in for help. They don't have the right insurance or they don't have the right means and you have to turn them away. And I I mean I don't want to put words in your mouth or I want to make you feel bad, but I got to think, as an owner who's passionate about saving lives, that's got to be tough, because you may be wondering like, okay, all the people that restore, how to turn away what came of them, Like what happened to them. I mean, what are your thoughts?

Steven Ginsburg: 3:37

I think about it all the time. It haunts me, it kills me. I want to fix it. I can't fix, fix everything, I have to just prayerfully continue to live the starfish story and I'm happy to give you the thumbnail version of that, the short version of that, and I have to keep building towards the solution. And the short version of the starfish story is there's thousands of starfish washed up on the beach. There's a little boy throwing them back in the ocean and the old man comes up to him and says it's not going to make a difference to all these starfish and he grabs the one. He says it's going to make a difference to this one, sir, and he throws it in the ocean. I've got to live it out that way and I've got to keep prayerfully doing my part to get into the solution. And I think you're aware, obviously, that you know we are. We are in the very early inception of trying to zone in and zero in on a real solution.

Steve Coughran: 4:29

Yeah, and I agree, and the other day we were talking about this, and I mean, we've been going back and forth about establishing this foundation which would allow us to collect donations from people who want to help and then those donations would be turned over to individuals who are looking for drug and alcohol addiction therapy and relief and recovery. And I think that's so cool, because here we are in this massive epidemic in the US with drugs and alcohol, and there's hope and there's help, and it's so easy. Right, the solution seems easy, but but it's just moving forward with it, and so we came up with this name called the Restore Collective. So talk a little bit about that, stephen, and what that name means to you.

Steven Ginsburg: 5:19

I loved our phase one pre-blueprint brainstorm where we came up with the name God's hand was in on that and secondarily, it is literally a mechanism so that whoever would choose to participate can start to contribute and can contribute to a proper fund that's properly represented by a board and where the funds are 100% going to allowing people who have some hurdle, some obstacle that's keeping them from the solution. Steve, sometimes it's people with insurance and they have mental health policies and they have a $20,000 or $30,000 deductible. How can you expect someone to come up with a $20,000 or $30,000 deductible or out-of-pocket cost just so they can get treatment? And then, when it comes to Medicare and Medi-Cal, I can't even help anyone who carries those policies. And then there's people who have no insurance at all and again it can provide.

Steven Ginsburg: 6:13

It may not be that I'm able to help hundreds or thousands, but if I'm able to help one of 10 or three out of those 30 that I have to say no to, if they are able to come to Restore and get vested in the solution, then it saves the family or it saves a life or it saves the cost of a memorial service. I'm gonna continue to prayerfully, diligently and intentionally to build that out. I'm going to have lots of great people you amongst them who are going to pour in, roll up their sleeves and help us put this thing together the right way, where all the proceeds are going to treatment, and we will begin to bridge that gap and I know God's hand will be in it and from there it will blossom. And we will begin to bridge that gap, and I know God's hand will be in it, and from there it will blossom and we will find our way and it will come into existence.

Steve Coughran: 6:59

Yeah, and I agree. And, like you said, it's one starfish, right? So sure we can't save the whole world, but it's one starfish, and it's one person's daughter, one person's son, it's one person's partner. You know, it's one person's son.

Steven Ginsburg: 7:15

Yes, it's one person's partner. You know it's one person's parent, mom or dad. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Steven Ginsburg: 7:17

And it's just it's a must and, yes, you and I have been talking about it a long time and yes, of course you know the world is going to make it tough and challenging to get it going, but it doesn't matter. The persistence will overcome resistance and I will persist in the desire to treat people and I will persist in the desire to help people. And then again, you're you're. It's easy to target you. I've got people like yourself and your family supporting the cause. I've got wonderful guys in my bible study who are going to support the cause. And I don't just support by writing a check. I mean I need help building the whole darn thing for all of us and for the people out there who are struggling. But the nice part is, none of us are in it alone and this is a must. Like we need oxygen, we need this thing to come together and every journey starts with what? That first step. And here we are on that first step together.

Steve Coughran: 8:09

Yeah, and that's why I think it's so important to just be talking about it, because this is something that is so critical to the lives of so many people out there in the world. And before we hit the record button, you and I were talking like, hey, let's just get it out there. Let's get it out there to the world because we know there are listeners who resonate with this. I mean, maybe their partner dealt with drug and alcohol abuse, or their kids or their parents or whatever. I mean it is so pervasive nowadays in the world that I would say almost everybody, if not everybody, is impacted by drug and alcohol abuse.

Steven Ginsburg: 8:48

It's just so widespread. You either know someone or you have someone that you love and know who's in your life that's been directly affected. It's everywhere. We're not going to sit here and do a stat show, but the statistics are ridiculous, they're awful and there's a full aeroplane of people dying every day from fentanyl. We don't have any time to wait and we've got to act now and create this next step and we're going to, and we are. Just by speaking on it, by praying on it and by starting the footwork and, to your point, putting it out there, the solution will start to come into shape, and it's meant to be, because we are going to continue to help people and expand those horizons and we're not going to be limited or curtailed by conditions from people who have no objection to having their lives saved.

Steve Coughran: 9:40

Yeah, I agree. Let me just say something too, because this is interesting and, trust me, I've been there before as well in my life with this thinking. But I have this family member and I think she's great. She has such a big heart, she's so kind, so loving. But it's interesting because she's always out there in the community looking for people to help, people to serve, looking for organizations out in the world that she could get involved with. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, you know, because her motives are very pure and, like I said, she has a giant heart, she wants to help people.

Steve Coughran: 10:19

But one day I was thinking look, oftentimes, you know, we could look to Africa and say there's, you know, millions of people starving in Africa and they don't have access to clean running water. Or there's people over here they have no electricity. Or, you know, over in Malaysia there's this or whatever I mean. Across the world there are issues, and I'm not saying they don't hear me wrong I'm not saying that those causes aren't good causes to pursue, but what I think, the mistake that I've made in the past and I want to hear your thoughts on this here in a minute, steven is that I can look outwards, I can look to go save the masses out there in the world, go spread my message about business or saving lives or whatever it may be, and right in front of my face, right in front of my face, somebody's drowning Now, not literally, but you know what I mean. Somebody in my inner circle is struggling and I have my binoculars on looking out into the distance trying to find somebody. And right in front of my face there's somebody who's struggling, and so this was like a powerful lesson that I had to learn in my life that, wow, in my inner circle people are struggling. I once heard this quote, stephen, where those ecclesiastical leader said anytime you meet somebody, imagine that they're going through a major crisis in their life and half of the time you'll be right, and it's just like so true, I mean, all of us were like struggling.

Steve Coughran: 11:52

And so my point with all of this is that sure, we can help you know big causes, or we can go, you know, try to solve world hunger but also here's a great cause that we're doing. We're, I mean, we're saving lives, we're helping people, we're doing this podcast, we're we're putting information out there in the world. On on the restore website, there's free eBooks. You could connect with our admissions director and, even if you don't come to Restore, he has a ton of resources that he can provide for you. And so we have all this stuff and we're trying to help people, but we need your help and that's why we're doing this episode. What are your thoughts on that, Steven?

Steven Ginsburg: 12:32

I just think you put it so perfectly, Steve and it starts at home and it's right in front of us and it's tangible, and I think it's important in space like this and where something like this is concerned, I think it's really important and it's imperative to really understand where, if you're going to be a blessing to someone, to really have the ability to understand where is it going, where is what you are gifting and where is what you are providing support for. Where is it going, what's it for, what's the result of that? And we have this rare, very finite, tangible, smaller space where that can all be provided and spoken for, and even in the not-for-profit world that is almost unheard of. That will be the norm with this fund and the purpose that it will serve.

Steve Coughran: 13:25

Yeah, I agree. And look, we're not selfish people. If you've heard other episodes of ours, we're always out there trying to add value. We're not trying to pitch people or do this, but I thought today we should take the opportunity to just put it out there in the world, because we know people are listening to this and I'm sure a lot of people who are listening to this want to help out and they want to support this whole mission and this cause because there's this emotional tie to this or there's this passion or something resonates with them and I'm sure there's a lot of people that want to help.

Steve Coughran: 14:01

So if that's you, if you're listening to this, you can reach out to us at hello at restore detox centerscom, and maybe you have a financial contribution that you want to make to this effort. Like we said, it's going through a legit foundation, nonprofit organization that's going to help people get the help that they need. Maybe it's a financial contribution, maybe it's an idea, maybe it's a connection, maybe you have just some way or some of your time that you want to contribute to this overall mission to help us get this thing off the ground. And I think, like in my life, I could sit back and pray and do all these things, but until I start taking action, things aren't going to happen. They're not going to happen on their own, and I guess that's my. My motivation today is to to get this out there and to share you know your passion, stephen, for this as well with the world, and let's see what comes of it.

Steven Ginsburg: 14:59

Amen, and, Steve, thank you for taking the time and thank you for the vision to address it, not prematurely, but in its blueprint infancy, really to look at it together and to say to people hey, anything and everything that anyone has to offer, whether it's financially or with input or with logistics for building out the infrastructure, we thank you in advance. We want your prayers as well. Thank you for your action and your prayers, and it's for the greater good, because this disease is out there killing people like myself every day, and with each step and with each constructive piece that we put together of this foundation, it won't be long. It will be in existence and functioning. We are making a difference for countless people, again and again and again. So, steve, thank you for your part and if you're out there and you hear us and you want to reach out to us, thank you for listening and we want to meet you, we want to speak with you, we want to show you and we want to participate with you to provide a solution, to help people understand there is hope.