Chris Christenbury: Helping And Healing

By Scott Nicholson

Allen “Chris” Christenbury is taking recovery back to nature through Cove Creek Farm.

Christenbury operates the non-profit farm as a treatment center for young people who are overcoming some type of substance abuse, but for him it’s far more than just a path to healing others: it’s a path of self-healing.

Chris Christenbury operates the Cove Creek Farm as a treatment center for young people. Photo by Marie Freeman

Christenbury, a Vietnam veteran, was a truck driver in California after the war but lost his job because his chronic marijuana use hampered his performance. He moved back to be with family in Charlotte and began working in the field of human services. Though he had a number of different jobs in the years that followed, he always stayed connected to the field, eventually earning a graduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

“I was very broken, very fractured,” Christenbury said. “I had a lot of different jobs but always came back to working with young people. Part of my healing was working with other people and helping them with their healing.”

While a counselor in Virginia, he had been brainstorming the idea of a rural retreat for young people in recovery, and connections led him to the North Carolina mountains. He established Cove Creek Farm in 2002, and the farm recently moved to a site on Old US 421 in Sugar Grove. The farm property contains 25 acres and several buildings, including a farmhouse that the students maintain and manage.

Christenbury said students pay their own way, but it’s still cheaper than traditional treatment centers, which often require stays of between 30 and 90 days. The students sign up for a year, though some have return visits. The participants undergo drug tests and are required to stay clean, participate in running the farm and engage in community activities and services.

Christenbury likens it to “one big family,” and he’s not above delivering some of the Marine discipline he learned in training and battle.

The farm has about 60 ducks, six dogs, a burro, two pigs, a horse and a pony, and other animals come and go. “It’s very cathartic and the guys enjoy them,” Christenbury said. “It gives them a sense of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance.”

This year, the farm dwellers will start a vegetable garden. In addition to maintenance chores, the students are renovating a building that will serve as a recreation center and meeting space. Members of the farm have started regular Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings open to the community, and students also are engaged in other community treatment programs or meetings.

The farm is self-supporting through the fees students pay, but Christenbury also gets grants and community donations to help fulfill the mission. Current plans are to develop a ropes course that will offer week-long day camps, allowing people to get more exercise while creating another revenue source and outdoor activity for the students. The farm also has a day school for those finishing their high school courses, and Christenbury hopes a few local youths who might not be flourishing under traditional systems can attend classes on the farm.

For those signed up for a year, it can seem like forever, especially for the 18-to-25 male demographic the farm targets.

“The first three months are pretty difficult,” Christenbury said. “They have to adjust to an entire new way of life.’

Christenbury said the youths learn to lead a clean, sober life that’s “more moral, more ethical,” and overcome the emotional stunting that occurred when they turned to substance abuse.

The farmhouse has a population of up to eight males, with two house managers. The farm is also starting a leadership school, because some find once they graduate from the farm program, they want to become therapists themselves and help other people.

“We’ve taken the good stuff from a number of programs,” Christenbury said. “We’ve created probably one of the most unique programs around.”

Christenbury, who is Jewish, said one of the tenets of his faith is “tikkun olam,” which means “repair the world.” If someone wants to change the world and themselves, they need to start in their immediate environment by touching those around them, Christenbury said.

He said brain research is suggesting that substance abuse may have more of a genetic or scientific basis than a behavioral basis, which might help remove some stigma. However, those recovering from abuse need to make a transition from the artificial world of their drug experience to “take baby steps” into the world shared with everyone else.

Christenbury said his own path to healing is an ongoing process, and that’s part of the joy he finds in helping others down the road, even if he has to be tough at times. “I wasn’t working right,” he said. “To share this with other families is a great feeling. What a great thing it is to do what pleases you.”

Christenbury said he will continue to work at the farm, helping heal youths, unless health or other circumstances force him into a veteran’s retirement home, or what he called the “old soldier’s home.” However, he has no plan to leave the path anytime soon. “It’s this and then die,’ Christenbury said.