War Cry - October, 2015 Page 28

The War Cry | OCTOBER 2015

he parole offi cer had Jerry Casey in handcuffs and
shackles following a violation of his sentencing
conditions. Guilty again of being drunk and
disorderly, the normal procedure would be to

merely return him to prison to serve out the sentence he
had incurred for earlier, more serious crimes.

But the parole officer had something else

in mind for Jerry, who is originally from Long
Island, New York. He drove Jerry to the Salva-
tion Army's Atlanta Adult Rehabilitation Cen-
ter (ARC). As soon as Jerry walked in the door,
Major Lynda Delaney greeted him. She had
agreed with the constable that Jerry would be
given one last chance. Enrolling in the ARC
program was the only way Jerry would avoid
incarceration.

Today, the 54-year-old is nothing like the

man he was for most of his adult life, thanks
to the astounding opportunity he was given
five years ago. "Once I decided that I was
going to enroll into the [ARC] program, Major
Lynda led me to the Lord right then and

there," Jerry says.

He became a staunch born again Christian,

and soon found in Major Lynda a formidable
mentor.

"Long before that, I was a full-fledged alco-

holic and a full-fledged drug addict," he says,
"and I tried countless rehab programs, spent
a lot of money on counselors. I tried everything
from AA to NA to CA, and nothing worked
for me. They are all wonderful programs, but
they just weren't for me."

Jerry admits that as soon as he left each

of those rehab programs, he smoked crack--put-
ting him right back at square one.

Genetic predisposition may have played a

role in his addiction: his father and brother
both died from cirrhosis of the liver, and his
mother and five out of six siblings all battled
alcoholism.

"I knew there is a God and that there is a

Heaven--I just didn't know how to get there.
I fooled myself into thinking that, despite my
predispositions to my addictions, God would
let me into Heaven," Jerry explains. "I even
convinced myself that if I were to die because
of an overdose, then that is not really suicide.
I know now that kind of thinking was nuts!"

Jerry went from alcohol to cocaine and

eventually to crack.

"I figured that I wasn't hurting anyone but

24-26_OnceHandcuffs_WCOct15_Werk2.indd 1

9/22/15 12:42 PM