I’ve got to hand it to Anthony McCarthy: he’s a heck of a better man than I am.
About two weeks before Thanksgiving, McCarthy decided to put his tummy – and perhaps his health – on the line. McCarthy is the chief administrative officer for I Can’t We Can, a successful, oh-so-necessary but now cash-strapped Northwest Baltimore drug recovery program. On Nov. 14, McCarthy sent out a press release in which he announced he would begin a fast – drinking only water – until private citizens, businesses or government agencies step up to the plate and donate $50,000 to I Can’t We Can.
That McCarthy would try such an endeavor in what’s been, to put it mildly, a very trying year for him speaks volumes about the man’s character. McCarthy is a former journalist who was on the staff of the Baltimore Afro-American at one point. He was a spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon when she was City Council president and served briefly in that capacity after Big Sheil won the big seat in the 2007 mayoral race.
Then came the hard times: The false allegations of sexual impropriety in a Baltimore County case, the firing of McCarthy from his job at City Hall, the subsequent – and some say downright mysterious – dropping of those charges months later. McCarthy was subpoenaed to testify before a city grand jury about Dixon’s alleged improprieties involving a Baltimore developer, only to have his chain jerked by the state prosecutor.
McCarthy was never called to testify before the grand jury. He wasn’t given any reason why he wasn’t called or any indication when he would be. During those months McCarthy struggled to find employment, landing at I Can’t We Can. With all his troubles, McCarthy seems more concerned about what will happen to the people I Can’t We Can serves if the organization goes out of business.
“Over the last 10 years I Can’t We Can has taken anyone in who wants to change their lives and conquer their addictions,” McCarthy wrote in his press release. “[I Can’t We Can has] turned no one away. These are people who would otherwise be breaking into cars and homes and committing horrible crimes to feed their addictions to crack, heroin… and every other illegal substance.
“Now the organization is barely able to exist because contributions have dried up and it appears that many government decision makers have simply forgotten why this organization exists. Can you imagine what would happen to these drug addicts if I Can’t We Can were forced to close their doors like HERO and other small groups?”
Oh, indeed I can. I live in a Pimlico neighborhood not far from the I Can’t We Can office in the 4400 block of Park Heights Avenue. Many an evening I’ve seen groups of 10 or more men walking the streets, only to breathe a sigh of relief when I realize they’re part of the I Can’t We Can program, which brings some measure of stability to a neighborhood much in need of stability.
But I can imagine something else: 500 people, organizations, churches or businesses donating $100 each to I Can’t We Can. Baltimore’s estimated population as of 2007 was just under 638,000 people. About 2.6 million people live in the Baltimore metropolitan area. I refuse to believe that there is not some combination of 500 individuals, churches, organizations or businesses that can’t pony up $100 each.
Look, I know the economy’s bad right now. I didn’t realize how bad until I was panhandled by a white guy in the nation’s capital a couple of weeks ago. But there are still plenty of folks around with 100 bucks to spare. The 53 football players for the Baltimore Ravens, with National Football League salaries being what they are, could easily put up a grand each.
But let’s not single out the Ravens players. Drug addiction isn’t just the addicts’ problem; it’s our problem. Solving that problem takes money. It’s going to cost us. And judging from the damage some addicts can do to support their habits, for the $50,000 McCarthy is asking for we’d be getting off darned cheap.
Gregory Kane is a columnist who has been writing about Baltimore and Maryland for more than 15 years. Look for his columns in the editorial section every Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at [email protected]
