KTA/KTOB Helps to Raise Profile of Backstretch Support Systems

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The decades-old Kentucky Derby Trainers' Dinner held on the Tuesday before the big race is annually one of the most forward-facing social highlights of Derby week. But attendees who buy tickets for this year's May 3 fete will be helping to support two worthy backstretch charitable organizations whose behind-the-scenes work helps racetrackers and their families long after the spotlight of the Derby has dimmed at Churchill Downs.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association/Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders organization, which hosts the banquet, has just entered into a three-year commitment to raise funds for The Healing Place (THP) and Backside Learning Center (BLC), both based at Churchill. In addition to donating a portion of the proceeds of the Louisville Hyatt Regency dinner to both groups (tickets $160, tables of 10 $1,500), the KTA/KTOB has also pledged to raise money throughout the year and to try and grow awareness for the two organizations.

“Taking care of the needs of people within the industry is non-political,” said Chauncey Morris, the KTA/KTOB executive director. “We need to take care of our workers. We need to take care of our equine athletes, but we also need to take care of the individuals that care for our horses. They are the care delivery system for our horses, and it's just the right thing to do. This is not necessarily health care, but the lifestyle needs of individuals on the backstretch.”

THP is a drug and alcohol addiction program whose aim is to provide long-term tools for recovery that help to restore productive lives. The Churchill backstretch walk-in center, which opened about seven years ago, is one of several THP branches in greater Louisville. The 26-year-old organization as a whole claims a success rate of five times the national average for recovery facilities, with 75 percent of alumni remaining sober after one year.

BLC is entering its 12th year in the renovated former racing offices on the Churchill backstretch. Originally the Klein Family Learning Center and WinStar Library and Classrooms, BLC provides an array of free adult educational programming, including English-as-second-language (ESL), General Educational Development (GED), United States citizenship, and computer literacy classes. BLC also maintains an after-school tutoring program for the children of backside workers, and serves as a social community center that it likes to call the “home away from home” for nearly 1,000 employees in the Churchill stabling area.

Although the two programs are separate entities, the people who run both organizations–as well as the directors of the KTA/KTOB–realize that the two groups' services dovetail and complement each other.

“It's really interesting, because what we've learned is one organization works with the other,” said Morris. “Individuals that have suffered through substance abuse problems, when they are on the path to recovery, need to find stability in their lives. So THP will provide recovering addicts with the tools and support they need to get on that right path, then the BLC comes into play to keep people busy and active in the community. On the backstretch, once the horses are all washed and the tack's all hung up for the night, there's an awful lot of downtime, which is when is becomes easy to get steered off that path.”

Linda Doane, the on-track THP liaison, concurred that her organization is stronger and more effective thanks to the working relationship it has forged with BLC.

“It's perfect, really. Because when you take away the drugs and the alcohol, that puts a pretty big void in a lot of people's lives,” Doane said. “You've got to put something in that place. You just can't give them a recipe card that says 'Go to three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, find a sponsor, and stop drinking.' That doesn't work.

“Part of my belief system for the program is that your lifestyle has to take a shift,” Doane continued. “You've got to stop the drinking, but you need to add some other things to your life. You need to have church, you need to have recreation, you need to have education. You can go to the activities you choose–I don't force any particular outside activates or religious services upon people–but you need to incorporate something that's healthy as part of figuring out a new lifestyle.”

Sherry Stanley, the BLC's director, estimated that her organization serves about 40 walk-in backstretch workers a day. About 120 racetrackers at any given time are enrolled in the popular ESL classes, and another 50 or so parents and children participate in a year-round family education program that exists even when Churchill isn't racing (these services often take place off-track because of backside age restrictions). Stanley said all of these programs are overseen by only two full-time employees, although BLC has a core group of about 50 “permanent volunteers.”

Yet for all of the structure that BLC provides, Stanley said it is imperative that the organization remains flexible to the wants of the backstretch community.

“Just about anything people come in here and request, we try to meet their needs,” Stanley explained. “A lot of times the best thing we can do is be an ear to the population back here. A lot of times people just come in and need someone to talk to.”

At THP too, there is a mix of rigor and malleability. Doane explained how a large percentage of her clients are “mandated in” and that she is the “buffer” for their supportive services. These clients might be jockeys or exercise riders who have failed a drug or alcohol screening, or could be horsemen and women who have gotten in trouble with the law over substance abuse and are required to take part in a rehab program as a condition of their professional licensure.

Yet at the same time, Doane said she aims for a more casual “open door” policy that she hopes will promote a no-pressure, non-judgmental atmosphere for anyone to come in and ask questions or to seek out help–either for themselves, an employee, or a spouse or family member.

“That's the beauty of the whole program, is that it's an open-door policy. I'm perfectly placed. I'm locally centered on the backside right off the racetrack,” Doane said. “So people will come in for coffee, they'll come in for a condition book, and people will filter in and you don't really know why they are in here. Then you start talking, and things unfold.”

Doane continued: “I have owners, jockeys, veterinarians, executives, maintenance people. Trainers will come in seeking help for their workers. Spouses will come in and say 'I've tried everything, I just don't know what to do.'”

Doane explained how the success of addiction recovery programs at racetracks often gets unintentionally masked. The headlines are full of racetrackers' misdeeds when they get in trouble with drugs or alcohol, she said, but the media only seems to pay attention to the recovery of elite-level participants in the sport. Just as important, she underscored, are all the backstretch workers who manage to turn their lives around in a positive fashion with no fanfare.

“When somebody goes through their storyline of making their changes and adjusting and dealing with the consequences of the bad choices they have made, once they've gone through that and have started to go on the better path, they figure 'Why relive the past? I should just keep my mouth shut and go on with it.'”

Job security also plays a role, Doane explained. A 20-something jockey proactively attempting addiction recovery might be fearful of letting trainers know he or she has sought help for substance abuse because of the potential that a negative impression might lead to being passed over for mounts.

“It takes some time for them to talk about what they've gone through, because the biggest fear is that they'll lose their job,” Doane said before giving examples of well-known riders who have embarked upon long paths to recovery from addiction. “But once that security is with them, they'll be a little bit more vocal–the Pat Days, the Jerry Baileys–they're very secure in their new ways, and aren't afraid to talk about it.”

Doane said that's why it's vital for THP to get support from Kentucky's horsemen. “Two of things the KTA/KTOB is doing, are 1) Validating that our services are important; and 2) Speaking to a population that doesn't really know the services that the racing industry is trying to provide on our track and a lot of other racetracks.”

Morris concurred: “This is really the reason that we're wanting to do this, is to bring attention to these two very noble charities. There are obviously other philanthropic organizations that are involved in racing, but these are two organizations that are doing the right thing. They do have their success stories, and we are very pleased to make a three-year commitment to them to try and explore other ideas where we might be able to help them a bit more.”

Stanley said the support will help both in the present, and for laying the groundwork for the future of the BLC.

“One big dream that we have in our three- to five-year plan is we would love to open up satellite locations at other tracks,” Stanley said. “TLC is unique to Churchill Downs. But we get calls from people over the winter who are at other tracks asking about our programs, because what we do is a big draw to the backstretch population. People have asked us if we'd consider implementing similar programs in New Orleans, Hot Springs, and Florida. Something like this would be a great service to offer to people. Even if we could open up just small-scale programs at other tracks, I think it would be a wonderful thing.”

 

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