Terry Higgins

Terry Higgins, Lost and Found Inc. Board member and consummate volunteer, was the recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award in April, 2009.  Terry came into the Lost and Found Inc. family when his son, Austin, reached out to him for help with his heroine addiction.  While at Lost and Found Inc., Austin experienced “phenomenal change”, not the least of which being reestablishing his relationship with Christ.  As with most addicts, Austin had a “lapse”; unfortunately, this “lapse” was his last because it took his life.
While Terry could have become “lost” himself in his own grief, he actually reached out to his Lost and Found Inc. family.  In Terry’s words, “I saw a lot of Austin in the eyes of the other kids.  They didn’t want addiction.  They wanted love, and structure . . . The greatest gift Lost and Found Inc. gave to Austin was his relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Terry has resourced the remodels of many Lost and Found Inc. facilities, and even worked alongside the kids in residential treatment to build the “Trex” stairway to the on-site school at the Therapeutic Residential Child Care Facility.  Whenever there is a project, Terry is the first one to step in with gifts of his resources, labor, time and love.

From the Executive Director:

From the main campus of the Lost and Found Inc. Therapeutic Residential Child Care Facility (TRCCF – a residential treatment center for teen boys), just off the highway of South Turkey Creek Rd near Tiny Town is a rock abutment and slightly curved road that angles sharply, up to the school building and recreation areas.  It's a very steep climb and if someone isn't used to the Rocky Mountain altitude, it's close to a proverbial “mile high” head rush, breathing frenzy.

Terry Higgins volunteered, along with a few friends, to build a life-long, lasting stairway from the back of the Residential Treatment Center, straight up to the campus.  This group used a certain kind of boarding that would never rot nor fall apart as the years rolled by, along with railings and the necessary gradient scrape to get the incline correct.  It was weeks in the making and completion.

Why would one do such a thing for a bunch of kids who are usually considered “throwaway trash”?  Some might even think the “huffing and puffing” struggle up the mountainside is just punishment for the criminality and drug abuse for which these kids are in treatment.

Terry Higgins saw this issue from a different set of eyes.  He had his own son in mind, even as he started the project.  From his heart came this metaphor, "Recovery is a journey.  It takes a lot of energy.  It's never easy and it takes the breath away from you.  Whatever we can do to make this struggle less strenuous, I'm there!"

He built this winding staircase just like one does A.A. or N.A--one step at a time, with reverence and profound gratitude in his heart for a program that was aiding his son toward sanity.  

Come see it for yourself.  This staircase is going to be around a long, long time.