Transitioning into sobriety

Megan Michelson
Tahoe World - News ~ June 8, 2005

Jimmy Thennes knew he had a choice. At 36, he could either continue living homeless and constantly drunk, or he could do what he calls self surrender.

"It got to the point where I was going to be that drunk living in a cardboard box and dead. Or something was going to intercede my life," Thennes said.

Fortunately for Thennes, something - or rather, someone - interceded. Enter Keith Walters, owner of the Y6 Motel in Kings Beach.

Walters took Thennes into his home and let him help refurbish the Y6 Motel, which he was transforming into a safe and sober transitional living facility. He taught him about self-sacrifice and about the importance of giving to others. But it took a relapse last year before Thennes really turned his life around. Today, he's a volunteer in-house manager at the Y6 Motel.

"I still work. But the Y6 and helping other drunks comes first in my life," Thennes said at the Y6 on Monday.

For Walters and Thennes, their life mission is to spread the message to alcoholics about the importance of helping others and thinking less of yourself. Through spiritual healing, they believe that sufferers can remedy mind and body ailments, including alcoholism. Although Walters claims the Y6 is not religious and promotes no singular idea, he says the solution to addiction is spiritual.

"The problem with alcoholics isn't alcohol," Walters said. "It's a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution."

Walters said their program is a throwback to the original Alcoholics Anonymous as created by its founders more than 60 years ago.

"Y6 does not directly promote Alcoholics Anonymous but believes and supports the principals laid down by its founding fathers in 1939 and encourages our patrons to attend local AA meetings," he said.

The Y6, which is currently an all-male facility, houses between 10 and 12 residents each week between the ages of 21 and 60. Many of them are local, but some come from as far away as Texas and New Jersey. All are required to spend their days working or volunteering at local churches, thrift shops or other organizations.

Residents pay $140 a week and are only allowed to stay 28 days, according to state occupancy requirements. Although there are no counselors on site and the Y6 is not a licensed facility, Walters said it's a place for recovery.

"They don't come here for counseling. They come here to get out of their current situation," he said. "It's not rehab, it's a clean and sober transitional living center."

Formally called the Foothills Motel, the six-unit motel was, as Walters called it, "a rat's nest." It was a haven for drug users, and needles and other drug paraphernalia were scattered throughout the rooms. Placer County Sheriff's Deputy John Shaw said they were called to the motel for cases of drugs, alcohol, prostitution and theft on a regular basis.

But then Walters and his wife Wendy purchased the motel last July with the help of Community Concern, a San Jose-based non-profit organization that funds and promotes community interests. He gutted and refurbished each of the rooms and opened as a safe and affordable living environment for recovering alcoholics last September.

Since then, the place has been running at near full occupancy. And the number of police calls to the motel has dropped dramatically, according to Shaw, who's recommended between 50 and 100 people to visit Walters and his facility during the last three years.

"I've been a cop for 10 years and I've never found answers to my questions about (alcoholics) until I met Keith," Shaw said.

A typical day at Y6 starts with a 6 a.m. wake up, followed by quiet time. After breakfast, residents go to work or volunteer. They are required to be home by 6:30 p.m. on most weekdays. There are two scheduled study meetings each week, in which residents study the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as frequent group gatherings and barbecues. Lights out is at 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

"We try to promote a normal schedule," Walters said. "But we're not a lockdown facility. And we encourage family members to come participate. It is a disease that touches everyone."

Residents must do their chores, abide by the daily schedule and follow the rules - no mind or mood altering substances, no gambling, no smoking inside, no fighting, no foul language and more - or risk being kicked out.

Of those who come through the Y6, Walters said about 75 percent achieve a successful recovery either on their first or subsequent visits. Of those successes, Walters said they've seen families reunited, trust regained and lives restored. But of course, not everybody makes it.

"We have a 100 percent success rate for those who follow the directions and a zero percent success rate for those who don't," Walters said.

Walters knows first-hand the despair of an alcoholic. He began attending AA meetings in 1983, but it wasn't until 1999 that he became fully recovered. Through the years, he went to jail 64 times, spent three years in prison, lost four wives and many jobs, homes and friends.

He said that learning how to help others became his savior.

"As a recovered alcoholic, your life depends on the constant thought of others and how you can help meet their needs," he said. "Altruism becomes a way of life."