Volunteer’s labor of love helps rebuild young lives

Gary Massaro

Terry Higgins found a way to give back after losing his son.

He’s the guy Lost and Found Inc. calls when it needs something fixed or built.

Higgins, 59, offered his services to the nonprofit that works with addicted young people after his son, Austin, was treated at the facility in Jefferson County in 2001.

Higgins feared he had lost his son to drugs and life on the streets. Then Austin told Higgins he needed help, that he couldn’t kick his addiction on his own. So Higgins began to search for a place for treatment.

“Finding help isn’t that easy when you’re outside the court system,” Higgins said. “Places want to know if you have insurance, how you’re going to pay for treatment.”

Lost and Found took Austin in. And Higgins got his son back, but only for a little while. Austin was in treatment about two months. Counselors warned him and his family that there could be a relapse. And there was, just one. Austin ran into his old crowd. And about three weeks after returning home, he died of a drug overdose.

Higgins, still awash in his grief, had told the people at Lost and Found if they needed help, to call him. Soon enough, they did. They still do.

Because of Higgins’ dedication to others he has been named the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer of the month for April.

Higgins said he’s grateful for the three months he had his son back, the son he remembered before addiction turned him into a stranger.

“It was tough seeing him in treatment. But I could see a real change,” Higgins said. “One of the greatest things is they helped him re-establish his relationship with Jesus Christ. He had that before he died.”

Higgins is a homebuilder by trade. But in this foul economy, he isn’t building homes. He has been fortunate to pick up remodeling jobs.

“I’ve been real lucky. God is taking care of me,” he said. “But I can never see a couple weeks ahead of myself.”

He uses his skills to help Lost and Found. He recruited donations of lumber and help to build a long stairway at a treatment facility in Morrison. He remodeled what had been a girls’ facility when Lost and Found turned it into transitional housing. And he donates food to foster families during holidays.

“I’m not able to work directly with the kids. I’m an enabler,” Higgins said. “So the more work I can do with building or remodeling, the more time the staff can spend helping the kids.”

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