Laboure Center honors Father Joe White, a true son of Dot, with its ‘service’ award

Fr. Joe White working his ministry at the 2015 St. Patrick’s Breakfast in South Boston.
Don West photo

After 27 years of service in the priesthood and nearly two decades of work with people suffering from addiction, Father Joe White maintains that his work essentially comes to down to “responding to folks that are hurting.” This core value of empathy, he says, was instilled in him when he was growing up on Midland Street in Savin Hill.

“That’s what my neighborhood and my community and my family have always done,” he said. “Support one another and help each other out.”

White is “Savin Hill through and through,” but he has become known and beloved all over town— first as a fixture at South Boston’s St. Vincent de Paul parish, and today as a pastor at St. Joseph’s in the West End. But his Dorchester roots are what drew him to his calling as a priest.

“I’d have to say that my family and my community directed me along that path,” he said. “Growing up in a neighborhood that supported and prayed for vocations and made us aware of it, and having my parents and my grandparents, and the role models of the priests we had over the years… I felt called to respond to those needs that the gospel message calls us to respond to.”

The hallmark of Father Joe’s career, a cause he has dedicated much of the latter part of his life to, has been his work with those suffering with addiction and with their families. He is now the director of the Archdiocesan Addiction Recovery Pastoral Support Services (AARPSS), and has served on the Governor’s Council for Addiction for the past two years.

From his view point, he says the current opioid crisis is notably different than what he’s seen in the past. “It’s more devastating, it’s more diminishing of the individual, and it’s more wearisome for their families.”

In recent years, White has noticed a shift in overdose deaths. Having grown accustomed to seeing parents bury their children, he has gradually begun to see more children burying their parents. “Now it’s people of all ages, people of all backgrounds,” he said. “I felt that the Catholic Church needed to respond in an official capacity.”

The result of that feeling by him and others in the church was the establishment of the first Catholic office of addiction recovery in the US. Father Joe said that the addiction counseling work done by the Laboure Center in South Boston aims to help addicts’ families just as much as the victims with a program called “Recovering Connections.” But, he says, treatment is often only effective when a family convinces an individual to “mobilize and take the initiative to ask for help.” This can make a substantial difference in approaching the individual’s IROSC, or Individual Recovery-Oriented System of Care.

“Every individual has a circumstance and a situation,” White said. “We can assist them in navigating the system and receiving the treatment they need as an individual.” He also emphasized the importance of “ongoing continual care. It’s not something that gets resolved in three weeks or three months. The support network continues hopefully for a lifetime.”

Historically, drug addiction has carried a social stigma due to the belief that addicts are morally weak rather than individuals living with a disease. White said that this stigma has diminished recently due to the sheer number of people and families affected by the opioid crisis. He puts it succinctly: “The disease of addiction doesn’t discriminate.”

He notes that public perception has come a long way from seeing addiction as strictly a moral issue. “Now we see it truly as an ill or sick person that needs to get well, rather than a bad person that needs to get better.”

In his work with Catholic Charities, White has helped thousands of individuals suffering from addiction and their families, building a legacy that will be honored at the Laboure Center’s annual Spring Reception next Thursday, where he will receive its Jack Shaughnessy Service Award.

But this son of Dorchester is typically humble about the honor, pointing instead to the collaborative efforts between the AARPSS and local nonprofits and agencies like the Gavin Foundation or the Bureau for Substance Abuse Services as vital parts of the effort.

“When our places of worship and ministers and clergy collaborate with these agencies and nonprofits,” said Father Joe, pausing to reflect, “I don’t have a word for it; it just works.” It is this spirit of cooperation for a greater cause that reminds White of his hometown.

“When we work together, we overcome a lot. That’s the neighborhood I grew up in. That’s the Dorchester I know.”

The Catholic Charities Laboure Center’s 36th Annual Spring Reception will take place next Thursday, April 26, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the John Hancock Financial Center, 601 Congress St., in the Seaport District. The event will feature a silent and a live auction to raise funds for programs. Complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres will be served. RSVP by April 23 and purchase tickets at ccab.org/events. Call 617-464-8500 for more information.


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