A Region transplant, Darren Newton moved from Springfield, Missouri to Valparaiso and has become a pillar of strength in the community ever since.
Newton was born in Joplin, Missouri., but his parents moved out to California when he was around the age of four.
“I grew up in Orange County, California and graduated high school there. Once I graduated high school, I met my wife in the same area,” said Newton. “We couldn't buy a house in California because it was so expensive. So, we packed up and moved to Las Vegas. We lived in Las Vegas for 10 years.”
After living in Vegas, Newton, his wife, and daughters moved to the Springfield, Missouri area. Newton has been a salesman for about 35 years. He sells semi-trucks now, but for 20 years, he sold cars. He was manager and sales manager for a Chevy dealership when he lived in Las Vegas. When he moved to Missouri, he bought his own car lot. There, he was involved with the Second Baptist Church, so he donated cars to missionaries that needed vehicles to help them get around.
In Missouri, he faced some difficulties with his business partner that made Newton and his family decide to move.
“We needed to get out of the Springfield area so we chose Chesterton. Basically, I wanted to get closer to the big city since I grew up in LA, but I didn't want to live in the big city. So that's kind of why we picked Chesterton and now Valparaiso,” explained Newton.
Since living in Vegas, Newton explained his struggle with alcohol use. His substance use affected his family life and continued to follow him to the Region.
“Alcohol was always a part of my life. Even though we went to church and we were doing good things, it was always in the background all the time,” said Newton.
When he moved to Chesterton, Newton continued to be involved in church, which brought him to Celebrate Recovery.
“Alcohol was always causing problems for my family and me. After we were here 10 or 12 years, I finally went to Alcohol Anonymous meetings. They just didn't do anything for me,” said Newton. “Then, I went to my first Celebrate Recovery meeting. Since I grew up in the church, it was something that actually related to me.”
Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered, 12-step recovery program for anyone struggling with pain or addiction of any kind. It is a safe place to find community and freedom from the issues that are taking over someone’s life negatively. As someone who struggled with alcohol addiction, Newton stated that the program is suited for alcoholics, too.
When Newton started attending Celebrate Recovery meetings, there weren’t any sessions taking place in the Chesterton or Valparaiso area.
“You could find Celebrate Recovery in the Highland and Crown Point areas, or you could find it down in South Bend. So there weren’t any meetings in this area at all,” said Newton.
Once Newton saw the need for a Celebrate Recovery program in his area, he reached out to his pastor at his church.
“I said that we need a sober recovery program here because this is going to help people that just don't like secular programs. They told me to start up the program, so I ordered the material from Celebrate Recovery that gave the outline of how to start it,” said Newton. “It came together from there. We've been running it now for two and a half years.”
Since starting the program as a ministry leader at Valparaiso Nazarene Church (VNC), the program has taken off.
“There's probably five or six programs now since starting the first one,” Newton said.
In just a few years, Newton started this program at VNC and became the Indiana State Representative for Celebrate Recovery. The program is spreading throughout Porter County to Portage and Michigan City. About 40-45 people currently attend Valparaiso’s weekly meetings.
Newton attributes the growth and success of the program to its base in religion and focus on people coping with more than just substance abuse.
“This program has such a great impact because it's connected to the church. Celebrate Recovery is more about acknowledging the past rather than dwelling on it and looking toward the future,” said Newton. “Celebrate Recovery is for any hurt, habit, or hang up. It's not just about alcohol and drugs. Matter of fact, only one out of every three people that come to Celebrate Recovery come for alcohol and drugs. Most of them come because of abusive situations, depression, divorce, gambling, food addiction, or shopping. There's all kinds of issues that people are dealing with all the time.”
Newton states that everyone is always learning how to cope with something in their life, and Celebrate Recovery has given many in the Region the opportunity to have a supportive community they wouldn’t otherwise have. Celebrate Recovery shows members that they aren’t alone.
“You don't have to be a part of the church to be in Celebrate Recovery,” said Newton. “You just have to show up. It is kind of low key. And it's just more about opening up and understanding that there are other people out there that are in your same situation. You don't have to be lonely. There's plenty of things and people out there to help you.”
When looking back on his own life and struggles, Newton sees his mistakes and strife as learning material to help others.
“I don’t think I would tell my younger self to not take the path that I did because of what I am doing now. I'm 60 years old now. I kind of figure that I'm in the last third of my life. I've had 30 years of growing up, 30 years of misery, and now I need to use these last 30 years to help other people with my experiences,” said Newton. “30 years is a long time. If I have another 30 years, and I'm doing nothing but helping other folks get their life straight, then that's more good than I would have ever done if I had lived a perfect life.”
Celebrate Recovery meets every Tuesday night at Valparaiso Nazarene Church. Food is served at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Visit the Celebrate Recovery Valparaiso on Facebook for more information.