“Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered program with foundations firmly established in Biblical truth,” is the description found on the national Celebrate Recovery website (celebraterecovery.com).  You can find the program locally at the Clarksburg Baptist Church, with its director, Dr. Lou Ortenzio.  Dr. Ortenzio has had personal experience in recovery, as he witnessed first hand with himself the devastation that an addiction to drugs can create. 

 

In losing his medical license and hitting rock bottom, Dr. Ortenzio reached out to Christ to push forward into recovery.  What he realized was that others needed this assistance, and in order to provide it, Celebrate Recovery was brought to a local church and has blossomed from there.  Celebrate Recovery’s “Road to Recovery” is based on eight principles that begin with the belief in God and that He is an integral part of the recovery process.  Through the power of Jesus Christ, healing can begin for those that struggle with addiction.

 

Dr. Ortenzio’s role in Celebrate Recovery is to further pursue the goals of the organization in assisting those in need within our community.  Clarksburg and much of North Central West Virginia is facing a drug scourge that seems to be growing in scope.  Celebrate Recovery is attempting to meet those needs through God and those putting forth his teachings.  Dr. Ortenzio’s dedication to the program has lead to the assistance and recovery of hundred of individuals and continues to make a difference within our community.  That is why, he was chosen among the many nominations to be this month’s Celebrate Volunteer award winner.   

 

Along with the Celebrate Recovery program, Dr. Ortenzio has also worked and continues to work with the Harrison County Day Reporting Center, the Clarksburg Mission, Health Access of Harrison County and the group he started in 2014 called Prevention, Intervention, Treatment and Recovery (PITAR).  These are just a few among the many organizations that Ortenzio volunteers and spends his free time with.  Working to assist those that struggle is one of the most important tasks that he sees in his day to day work.

 

“I want others to learn the Good News of Jesus Christ and to get the freedom that I did,” Dr. Ortenzio said.  “It is through volunteering with Celebrate Recovery at Clarksburg Baptist Church and around the state as a state representative for CR that I am able to do that.  I can even carry the Christ through CR message into our Day Report Center, to those facing criminal charges, those in jails and prisons and those coming out of incarceration.”

 

“Assisting those in need is a priority for all of the volunteers we have recognized over the past few months.  Dr. Ortenzio exemplifies this in his work and through Celebrate Recovery,”  Gretchen Ross of WBOY stated.  “He has taken his life experience and provided positive outcomes for many in our region.  His work plays an important role in our state’s fight against the drug epidemic that has placed a stranglehold on so many families.”

 

“As an elected member of the House of Delegates, I see first hand the extent of the drug problem we have all over the state, as a member of the community I see how volunteers, such as Dr. Ortenzio, work hard to fight it’s effect on our families,”  said Tim Miley, owner of The Miley Legal Group.  “In honoring him, we are shining more light on the difficulties of recovery and the horrific impact that drugs have on our state.  We must continue to find ways to help those in need recover and become productive members of our society.”