Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 2004
Source: Kentucky New Era (KY)
Copyright: 2004 Kentucky New Era
Contact:  http://www.kentuckynewera.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1628
Author: Scott Burnside

FAMILY FIGHTS LOCAL DRUG PROBLEMS

HOPKINSVILLE -- If there's any doubt in one's mind whether there is a
drug problem in Hopkinsville, he or she needs to talk to the Greenwade
family. The family includes Walnut Street Center Director Greta Jones,
whose office walls are filled with plaques and honors accorded her
because of her presence on drug-fighting boards. She's a member of
three organizations directed at fighting drugs, their presence and
their causes.

One also could ask her brother Rev. Perry Greenwade, associate
minister of the First Street Baptist Church.

He was one of seven brothers in the family, while Greta is one of six
sisters.

Any minister can have a powerful influence, but it is Greenwade's
history before his association with the church that will grab your
attention.

"I wanted to be in with the in-crowd and I would do anything that made
me cool and be accepted, I had to have that," said Greenwade.

Greenwade was a member of the drug culture in Hopkinsville for more
than 20 years -- from when he was an impressionable 15-year-old taking
his first drug "hit" down to when he was selling crack cocaine to keep
his supply line flowing. That history sent Greenwade to prison twice,
and caused countless battles with Hopkinsville authorities.

Other glimpses into the family history includes two older brothers who
died from drugs and a period when Perry Greenwade's son was in jail
with his father.

And there's another son -- a brother to Perry and Greta -- whose
address is often referred to simply as city-at-large. Marvin Greenwade
maintains a residence at another person's home, perhaps an outdoor
garage, or maybe just lying in a field next to a railroad track.

His problem, according to his family, also is drugs.

The Greenwades know first-hand about the scurge of drugs and their
evil influence on a family.

While drugs visited and held sway over the brothers, Greta remembers
she and her sisters would have nothing to do with that side of street
life.

Greta is president of the local chapter of Champions for a Drug-Free
Kentucky. She is on the board for Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse
Policy, a three-county organization and is a certified instructor for
Prime for Life Under 21, a drug advocacy program.

With Greta on all of these boards, and Perry attacking from the
pulpit, drugs are under attack in their family.

One of their major focuses for the family is directed at brother
Marvin. The family has tried to house their oldest brother, they've
tried to get the government to appoint a payee for his federal check
and they brought him back from Pittsburgh. But so far, none of those
tactics have worked. "I offered to let him live in the basement of my
house where there's an apartment, but there would be rules: no drugs,
no drug friends or anything like that," said Greta, who doesn't even
allow a wine cooler in her house.

The family worked to get government housing, but that lasted only two
days.

Still, the family knows what it's like to fight drugs, particularly Perry.

Perry says his saving grace was his spiritual life, but salvation was
a tough mountain to climb.

"I didn't know what it was not to smoke cigarettes, not to smoke weed,
not to smoke crack, not to like alcohol, not to curse, lie, cheat or
steal. I didn't know there was a life like that," said Perry.

He started to recover while he was in prison during the late
1990s.

Now, Perry is counseling prisoners, on a limited basis, in the county
jail. He oversees the western side of Kentucky for his church
association. He is a sought-after speaker for several churches.

The battle against drugs is not over in the Greenwade family, but
there are victories to report.
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