As a result of our November 30, 2023 visit to the Behavioral Health Network for women & children, we received several heart-felt thank you letters. We have posted a couple of samples of the appreciation and gratitude the women and their children have lovingly sent our way.
Dear Ricky, Inc.
I wanted to say, out of the kindness of my heart, Thank You!
I received a bag from you this year, December 2023. This helped me for Christmas for both of my daughters; Karmen & Kalli and we really appreciate the gifts, PJ’s, toys, backpacks, etc.
My daughter Kalli and I were able to eat at McDonalds this past weekend because of you, when I didn’t have the extra money to feed us while we were visiting Santa. I greatly appreciate your gratitude this season. I have 18 months clean & sober today!
“Reading about everything that you guys have helped with in different communities and in different States, makes me open my eyes to see that there’s a lot of kind people out there that care about addiction”.
It’s definitely a long journey and it’s amazing to see that we have help!
Thank you,
Kaitlyn T.
Dear Ricky, Inc.
I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the thoughtful Christmas gifts you gave not only to me, but to all of the women and children of BHN.
“Your generosity and kindness have truly touched my heart”.
The McDonalds and MBTA gift cards were perfect!
It is also a reflection of your understanding, and I am incredibly grateful for your thoughtfulness….
Tiffany
Dear Rich & Bernadette,
Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts for my son and I.
I know it can be a hard time of year but acts of kindness such as yours truly bring up our spirits. We are grateful that there are kind and considerate people in this world. We will never know why tragedy has happened; we can only choose what we will do with it.
“You’ve chosen the let the light of your son’s Ricky & Nicholas to live on in the hearts of all of us. To brighten and shed a little more magic on our Christmas. As my son plays with his gifts, the legacy of Ricky and Nicholas lives on”.
Thank you for thinking of us!
Carter & Catie
Dear Ricky, Inc.
I want to write to thank you for the thoughtful gifts for me and my son. The MBTA passes, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds gifts cards were also very thoughtful and useful.
I really am so appreciative, it’s nice to feel special during the holiday seasons as they can be especially hard in early recovery.
“I’m so appreciative of your organization and how warm hearted you are towards the addicted/recovery community. You understand how important it is to make people feel wanted, thought about and be accepted”.
Organizations like yours are needed and there is not enough of them; the fact that you guys do what you do and help the overlooked and unwanted of the community shows just how selfless and special people like you are.
I’m truly grateful from the bottom of my heart because we DO recover and you truly made me feel wanted and special during this hard time of the year in early sobriety.
God bless you and keep doing what you’re doing.
“Legends never die and that’s what you’re doing for your sons”.
Thank you again and with a grateful heart,
Kristin Willis & Hunter Field
Dear Rich and Ricky Inc.,
I am writing to express my gratitude for the sober house rent sponsorship that you graciously provided me. Your generosity has been a beacon of light during a challenging time in my life.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I found myself struggling to meet the costs associated with my living arrangements. Your scholarship has alleviated a significant burden and allowed me to focus on my recovery journey with greater peace of mind.
Your kindness and support have not only eased my financial strain but have also renewed my hope and determination to maintain my sobriety and work towards a brighter future. I am truly humbled by your compassion and generosity.
I want to assure you that I am committed to making the most of this opportunity and will continue to strive towards becoming the best version of myself. Your belief in me has given me the strength and motivation to persevere, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.
"Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. Your contribution has made a profound difference in my life, and I will always hold it close to my heart".
With sincere appreciation,
Ainsley
May 1, 2024
Ricky, Inc.
To whom this may concern;
My name is James and I am a 31-year-old male. I attend school full time at Bunker-hill community college and am in the process of obtaining employment. I was recently released from incarceration after serving about two years. I signed up for college while incarcerated, educated myself through books and other programing.
I never had family as I went through foster homes growing up. I’ve never been to sober homes or other treatment options as they were not mentioned to me in the past. I’m looking to maintain my sobriety from alcohol, stay in school and gain employment.
I currently sleep at the airport or on the floor at a warming center. I receive food stamps for food. I don’t have any financial support or family. If you could please provide me with a chance to enter into a sober home and get employment so that I may obtain a more permanent living situation it would be greatly appreciated.
James
March 11, 2024
On Tuesday March 12, 2024, James was chosen to receive the "Sponsorship to Recovery" funding, covering his 1st months' rent.
We received this text from a young man Ricky knew in January 15 of 2020. Ricky was with this young man when he passed in 2019. Tragically this young man passed away in 2021.
I hope you take the time to read this as the letter we received in the previous post today is from the same Detox this friend of Ricky’s received a backpack from us four years ago. I pray he is doing well.
Mr. Giacoppo,
A close friend of Ricky and mine came over my house last night and told me he was in treatment, and that you dropped off a bunch of back packs and toiletries amongst other things. I wanted to say to you that despite the constant blame I put on myself, I was brought to tears when he got me an extra key chain you'd made of Ricky. I'm sure I'm last person you care to hear from but on behalf of our friend and myself....
I wanted to say THANK YOU.
And what you did for those guys was so appreciated and my friend told me it made him cry that a total stranger (to him) cared enough about people you didn't even know. It really impacted him because he had showed up at that program with literally nothing except the clothes he had on.
"Again, I just wanted to tell you that was such an act of love and caring which is something a lot of us addicts have given up on ever feeling again".
Again,
THANK YOU!!
Dear Richie,
Honestly, I am at a loss for words. Your generosity has overwhelmed me. I'm in recovery but am still not happy with the man in the mirror if you understand. “I feel totally unworthy but the funds LITERALLY are the only thing keeping me from sleeping under a bridge somewhere”.
I have 6 kids, 5 surviving. I lost Adeline Pearl in infancy, at home. I tried very hard to get her breathing with CPR but having served my country and experienced way too much combat, I knew Adeline was gone from me because when my wife found her she wasn’t blue, she was black. I'm uncomfortable to admit, I performed infant CPR because my wife needed to see me try. Idk if that was a mistake.
I did not recover and felt incredible pain. I was raised to believe mental health, and asking for it, was a sign of weakness. I lost almost a decade self-medicating. By the end. My family was gone. Every single thing I owned was lost. I was in jail. I am an accomplished teacher of 25 years. I hold a Masters and my writing has been published. And none of that mattered. I prioritized the bottle.
I am 4 months sober. I am actually correctly sober, meaning I work AA, and work every day on sobriety. But my entire support system is "done with me". And it’s my fault. I have no help. So since I've finished clinical treatment and got a bed at a sober house, I fear being homeless every single day. My employment prospects are excellent, and I'm getting healthier every day, but the rent piles up. “Ricky, Inc. is the difference between me and the streets”.
I simply don't know how to say thank you other than to stay sober and help another addict. And while I do that, “I'll never forget Ricky, Inc... Complete strangers whom I've never met and who owe me nothing, took a chance and invested in me. I hope my continued recovery demonstrates that I'm worth your investment”.
If I can EVER be of service to Ricky, Inc. all you need do is ask.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And Semper fi!
Derek C