A Day with Lou Ortenzio

By Hamod Alrabeea

The second Lou Ortenzio steps out of the car a passerby shouts “hello.” As he enters the hospital’s doors another person greets him. He barely makes it to the desk before someone else addresses him by name.

In Clarksburg, WV Lou Ortenzio is like a celebrity… and much more.

“I’ve always deeply cared for the people in my care,” he says. “I wanted to be the best physician I could be.”

Fifteen years ago, Lou was a physician with an opioid addiction. In 2004, his practice was raided and investigated for two years. In that time Lou found God and sobriety. He went on to found the Celebrate Recovery Mission at Clarksburg Baptist Church.

A day in Lou’s new life is busy from start to finish. The most important component outlining his daily work is seeking funding for the mission.

“The annual budget for the mission is one million,” Ortenzio says. “About $300,000 is provided by the state, community, and grants. But $700,000 is all donations. That’s a lot of pressure, because that’s finding $2,000 to $3,000 a day.”

He starts the day by giving a potential supporter a tour of the mission and explaining everything they do.

The mission is divided into levels, with the basement as the “Welcome Center.” Here there are about 40 beds available. The idea is for those who choose to start recovery, to “level up” as they progress. The next level has 16 beds, and those who make it to the second level become more involved in supporting newcomers.

Ortenzio takes time to check on a newcomer who is so helpless he’s unable to cook, clean himself, or wash his clothes. Orenzio talks to the 16 members on the second level and encourage them to help the newcomer. The newcomer is paranoid as a result of his drug use and is fearful of getting hurt by other people. He is unable to understand reality, to the point where he’ll put his clothes in front of a washer and turn it on without ever putting the clothes in. He’ll stand there genuinely believing this is washing the clothes. Out of respect and love for Ortenzio, the 16 residents promise to help and immediately disburse to start helping.

Ortenzio purposefully avoids using the words “homeless shelter.” The mission is meant to feel like a home and a family. During his fight with addiction, Ortenzio’s first wife left him and his relationship with his children was strained. Creating a sense of family that won’t abandoned, is a deep personal conviction to him. The staff and members using the mission’s resources all view Lou as the father figure of the unique, untraditional family.

When Ortenzio stood trial, the community wrote hundreds of letters and made calls to the sentencing judge. They all spoke to Ortenzio’s character and asked for leniency on his behalf. He pays it forward as he works around the mission, frequently interrupted by his phone ringing. People with all different types of problems call and the words “I don’t know” are never spoken by Ortenzio. He answers every question and gives the contact information of people he knows that can help whoever it is that has called him.

He receives a unique call that he decides is an emergency situation that needs to be dealt with immediately. There’s a woman who is upset and wanting to be moved to a different mission. Her boyfriend was at Ortenzio’s mission with her but was moved to a different mission after getting physically aggressive with another member.

“I want to go to where he’s at,” she tells Ortenzio. “I don’t know why everyone doesn’t like him. Yeah, he pushed that lady but, he’s really a nice guy. He’s only gotten aggressive with me a couple times but we were fighting.”

“Pack your things, I’ll take you,” Ortenzio responds.

Ortenzio drives her to the other Mission and lets her out of the car. Not much time passes before his phone rings again. It’s the same woman.

“I changed my mind, I don’t want to be here. I want to come back.”

Ortenzio says, “This was your decision you made, you need to take responsibility for it.”

Ortenzio no longer feels that opioids are the most dangerous threat. Meth is now the most destructive addiction he sees in those who come to the mission.

“Meth just destroys you,” Ortenzio says. “It damages the brain and you see these people walking down the street. They’ll get in your face and scream and just act crazy.”

Back at the mission a woman in recovery updates Ortenzio about her son. Just a week ago she was excitedly telling everyone in the mission that her son had decided to go into recovery. The woman’s mother was a drug addict who died from overdosing. She herself was a drug addict, and her son who was incarcerated at 18 became addicted to meth while in jail.

“I feel responsible that the example I set for him was one of addiction,” she says tearfully. “One that made drugs seem normal and acceptable. It tears my heart apart to see him sleeping in abandoned buildings, always looking for places to use.”

She tells Ortenzio know that her son made it half way through recovery when he simply decided to leave.

“This is just one of the problems with the recovery process,” Ortenzio says. “I went through recovery and I still have my family, I have a car, my house. But I chose to go through recovery, and I made it. But with her son, no one can force him to go through recovery. Not until he hurts himself or hurts someone else. By then, for most people, they’ve lost everything. There’s barely a life left to even save.”

Ortenzio completed recovery before he was prosecuted. He is aware of how exceptional his situation was when he was sentenced. His sobriety and character references resulted in supervised probation, community service, and restitution instead of jail time fortunately.

A veteran at the mission gets Ortenzio’s attention to tell him about his leg. The veteran tells Ortenzio that he’s an alcoholic. He knows he shouldn’t be drinking, but he was drunk one night regardless. He stripped naked and jumped on the hood of a random girl’s car. In a panic she ran him over. He tells Ortenzio that his leg is badly infected, and that he can’t feel it. He’s scared and doesn’t know what to do.

Ortenzio doesn’t even ask if the veteran wants to go or not, he tells him he will take him to the hospital. Ortenzio takes the opportunity to see another patient at the same hospital, and after getting past all the people he knows, he goes to see someone known as the Shoemaker.

The Shoemaker is laying in the hospital bed with his legs propped up, and they’re incredibly swollen.

“You keep telling me to have hope,” he laments. “But the doctors don’t have much hope for this leg. They say they can keep draining it, but they think they should amputate it.”

He has tears in his eyes by the time he says the last word.

Ortenzio begins digging through his phone contacts to find doctors he may know that can help. He steps outside to talk to the doctor about speeding up the process of draining his leg so they can tell if it’s responding to any of the treatment. He comes back in a says a prayer with the Shoemaker, before saying goodbye.

Ortenzio explains that the Shoemaker is exceptionally talented at repairing shoes. The mission receives so many shoe and material donations that there’s enough supplies to open a shop for the shoes. This would help the mission with the budget, as well as be a great opportunity for the Shoemaker. With the complications on his leg however, it’s a project that will be pushed to the back burner for now.

Ortenzio’s day is slowing down and coming to an end. He talks about the struggles the mission faces within the community.

“The police don’t like us,” Ortenzio says. “They want us to keep the homeless indoors and out of trouble. They want to hold us responsible for the vandalism they do. But they need to be out there during the day, looking for work. The community thinks we’re a magnet for the homeless because we’re one of the larger programs around. They don’t understand that the homeless are already here. Yes, they’re going to come where there’s a program but they’re already here.”

Every day of Ortenzio’s life he moves through a community where almost everyone knows who he is. His work in the mission is constant and he represents it wherever he goes. The people around him are vocal about the respect and admiration they have for him, and never speak with any judgement towards who Ortenzio once was.

“When I was a doctor, I felt responsible for all of my patients. I wanted to be the best physician I could be,” he says. “That mentality has never really left me. My purpose is just a little different now.”