Tiny White Box

Keith Howard used to be a homeless drunk veteran.  He now calls a six by 12-foot converted motorcycle trailer home.  He used to be a drunk. He’s now been sober for 11 years. He used to be toothless. He now has a mouthful of teeth. He used to be a veteran. He still is.  Howard maintains tinywhitebox.com, his website, helps out at Hope for New Hampshire Recovery in Manchester and tries to rouse the rabble.

Opinion

When the ER nurse says, “Good Luck” it’s medical jargon for “Next Step: The Morgue”

Friday, March 22, 2019 Keith Howard 4
That ambulance ride was the last positive part of the medical response our family experienced. Really. The Hub-and-Spoke Model touted by the state at a cost of $45-million dollars, offered nothing — in fact is banned from the emergency room of the hospital she was taken to. Three or four hours after Meri arrived, our family was escorted by security off hospital property.  Apparently my manner, calm as I may appear in writing, made them very nervous indeed. READ MORE
Opinion

Shipbuilders of Sunken Vessels: Quick dispatches from the belly of the Treatment Industrial System

Monday, January 28, 2019 Keith Howard 0
Like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Farmer and Cowman, treatment and recovery folks should be friends, although that’s not often the case, with treatment folks relying on a clinical model and recovery people favoring peer-based supports. In short, and perhaps unfairly to both, treatment partisans believe letters after one’s name are important while recovery supporters see lived experience as key. READ MORE