THE SPEAKER

Guest Speaker Alvin Powell is a former NFL offensive
lineman for the Miami Dolphins and the Seattle Seahawks. At 6-foot-5, 320-pounds, he was an imposing figure on the football field. Alvin fell pray to the disease of addiction and is now recovered. He has turned his life around and is working helping others quit their habit and to prevent young people from ever starting.

He has visited hundreds of high schools, universities, sports associations and corporations. In his visits, he tells his compelling life story of how drugs ruined his NFL career, his life, and brought him to the brink of death. Alvin started using cocaine in 1985 in his second pro year. By 1988, he was "a full-blown crack cocaine addict", drinking and smoking pot as well. From there his life "went into a tailspin." Unable to control his romance with drugs he resigned from the Miami Dolphins.

At his worst, Powell says, he was living in a church and spending his time "looking for deals to get money to buy cocaine. "I was an embarrassment to my family and friends. I couldn't die quick enough. But God had another plan," he says.

Powell has dedicated the past 10 years to the prevention of drug and substance abuse, as well as helping those in crises who are suffering from the decease of addiction. Drugs do not care who you are he says. They do not discriminate against color, creed, race, size, economic background or even age. Powell notes that his youngest client is 10 years old and his oldest is 63.