Dedication to John Camp

With the proceeds from this fundraising event, we will be able to honor John Camp by restoring and decorating the great room and renaming it “The John Camp Great Room”. For nearly 53 years, Mr. John has fought tirelessly on behalf of O'Brien House. We would be honored to name the space after him because he had devoted so much of himself to the organization. It would be fitting if we updated things in his honor, and we could use your assistance with that. Treatment groups, staff training, and public gatherings are generally held in this room. To improve the treatment experience, the room needs new paint, floor treatment, chairs, and technology. To make this room as wonderful as our clients deserve, we are requesting your assistance.

“In August 1971, I was sober a few days longer than six months when I answered a telephone call asking me to take a couple of homeless alcoholics to an AA meeting. The men lived at an under-staffed halfway house funded by a federal grant. Transporting them to a meeting triggered a series of benevolent circumstances that set-in motion the creation of O’Brien House. Although I am credited with being a founder of OBH, I am also probably its first successful client. My involvement with OBH over the years helped me recover my self-esteem which was badly battered from years of drunken escapades that cost me my family, job, and reputation. When I was named OBH’s first Chairman of the Board, I began to believe I was doing something proactively for others instead of reacting from my selfish attitude of looking out only for myself. Over these past 52 years, I have maintained close contact with O’Brien House, serving on the board and regularly sharing my experience, strength, and hope with clients. While traveling across the country as a journalist, OBH was never far from my mind. While living in Georgia in 2004, I was invited to speak at O’Brien House’s annual fundraising breakfast. Seeing first-hand the community support of the facility and the enthusiasm of its staff and clients greatly influenced my wife, Annette, and me to move back to Louisiana. My Higher Power has been generous in His grace by allowing me to serve O’Brien House. And I am grateful to all the people who have cultivated the seeds that were planted by a few of us 52 years ago.” - John Camp

This excerpt was taken from our 50th Anniversary Series