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When the 12 days of Christmas arrive at The Salvation Army Clitheroe program in Anchorage, Alaska, the festivities include just about everything except the partridge in a pear tree.
For program participants who are seeking recovery from substance abuse, Christmas can sometimes be complicated, often bringing up triggering thoughts about the past.
A 2023 poll from the American Psychological Association found more than 40 percent of adults said their stress increases from November to January compared with other points in the year, and 43 percent of those respondents said the stress of the holidays interferes with their ability to enjoy them.
For those experiencing addiction, the holiday stress can be compounded, said Anchorage Social Services Program Director Captain Denice Delgado.
“A lot of trauma is sometimes wrapped around the holidays or family, especially if family is a negative impact for them,” she said.
But in the Clitheroe program, The Salvation Army tries to reclaim the holiday for those in recovery through a number of special touches, like holiday pajamas, a Christmas meal and party. A highlight of it all? “The 12 days of Clitheroe”—the program’s spin on the familiar Christmas song.
In the two weeks leading up to the party, several of the Clitheroe program participants pen custom lyrics to the familiar tune.
“The song is funnier and funnier every year,” said Assistant Clinical Manager Shalom So’O.
So’O said the program’s four phases are often implemented in the songs along with other details, like Salvation Army history.
Past lyrics include: “On the first day of Christmas, Clitheroe gave to me a UA cup” for urinalysis, and instead of 12 drummers drumming, the “12 steps of AA.”
“They make it really fun and sometimes they include the staff,” she said. “It’s a free-for-all but you have to be respectful.”
The lyrics are refined and approved before the participants sing it at the party, So’O said, adding it’s a joy to watch the groups perform.
“It really brings the clients together,” she said. “There are sometimes disagreements but it’s always so fun to see them work together and communicate…This is a time of happiness.”
This year’s party, held Dec. 13, featured a holiday meal with prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, garden salad and rolls, all funded through a partnership with The Rotary Club of South Anchorage.
Salvation Army officers joined in the fun, with Santa making an appearance as well. Participants received gift bags with hygiene products and winter supplies.
This year, the staff got the program participants onesie pajamas, Delgado said.
“We normally don’t allow them to wear pajamas on the floor, but on Christmas Eve, they’ll be allowed to wear them,” Delgado said. “It’s healing, honest to goodness. It’s healing from trauma, from their childhood. You can see it on their faces, the impact it can make.”
It all aims to support the rehabilitation of individuals experiencing addiction, building off the work of Salvation Army Major Cyril “Jack” Clitheroe, who initially began helping those with alcoholism by providing spiritual guidance out of his garage.
Today, The Salvation Army’s wider Clitheroe program includes the new Clitheroe Center, a nationally accredited substance use disorder and co-occurring/dual diagnosis residential treatment center program, a level 3.5 intensive treatment for women and a level 2.5 outpatient program.
Additionally, in 2017, The Salvation Army was awarded a contract with the Alaska Department of Corrections to provide Substance Abuse and Treatment Services (SATS) through the Clitheroe program to incarcerated individuals with addiction at Goose Creek, Hiland Mountain and the Anchorage Complex correctional facilities.
But at Christmas, The Salvation Army aims to brighten the holidays for individuals in its programs.
“It’s for them to take away from it that they can actually heal from past traumas,” Delgado said. “It’s healing for myself, as someone who has gone through addiction, and am able to help provide that safe space for them to experience new feelings, new emotions and all of those things, and get to point them towards the reason why we do all of this, and that’s the birth of Jesus Christ.”
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