Phoenix House in East Hampton Is Latest Beneficiary of Dawgpatch Bandits

Dawgpatch Bandits, the nonprofit started by Drew Harvey of Sag Harbor that builds self-contained fitness centers for treatment centers, parks and public schools, has wrapped up work on three more installations at Phoenix House locations on Long Island, including the one in Wainscott.

The work marks the completion of the grassroots organization’s goal of completing 10 of the workout stations after Harvey and his buddy, Payton Dwight, of Pal Alto, California, raised more than $50,000 riding their bicycles from Seattle to Sag Harbor over 30 days in June 2021.

“It means the world to us,” said David Seiniger, Phoenix House’s program director in Wainscott, of the gift.

“Addiction is the abuse of your body — a lack of respect for your body,” he said, adding that often men who are trying to get clean will first focus on getting back in shape. “That’s often the first spark of self-care, self-respect,” he continued. “‘Let me drop a few pounds and feel better.’”

The equipment has proven popular with many of the center’s residents, he said.

Dawgpatch Bandits got its start in 2018 two years after the death of Michael Semkus, an ocean lifeguard, coach and teacher at Pierson High School. Semkus, a friend and mentor to Harvey, became addicted to his pain medication after suffering a sports-related injury and died of an accidental overdose in early 2016.

The installation, which includes parallel bars, pull-up bars, a push-up stone, gymnastic rings and bands, occupies a small area enclosed by railroad ties with tire mulch on the ground.

Besides being nearly indestructible and easy to care for, the equipment is based on providing the kind of pared-down workout regimen that Semkus and other lifeguards at Sagg Main Beach followed, Harvey said.

“You don’t need a gym and a million pieces of equipment to work out,” he said.

The workout station is marked with a small plaque that reads, “In Honor of Mike Semkus. ‘Tame the darkness. Achieve great things.’”

“To me, it’s the story that’s the most powerful thing,” Seiniger said. “It’s one thing to hold a memorial service and say, ‘We hope addicts get help.’” But it’s another thing, he added, to pedal a bike cross-country to raise money and install a workout station in a friend’s memory.

“Addicts and alcoholics have parents, children, siblings that get wrapped up in the pain of the addiction,” he said. “What you don’t often hear about is their friends.”

When patients see that someone has gone to such great lengths to honor the memory of a friend, it might strike a chord in them and remind them that they have people in their lives who care about them as well, he said.

Over the past year, Harvey, who now lives on Shelter Island and works as a project manager in construction, has overseen the building of two workout stations at Phoenix House locations in Hauppauge and in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Now he’s turning his attention to the next batch of projects. Last summer, Dawgpatch Bandits held a successful fundraiser, and a friend of Harvey’s rode his bicycle from Lisbon to the shore of the Black Sea in Romania, raising money for a fitness center at a group home outside San Diego. Yet another friend plans to run from the north rim to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, a distance of 25 miles, next year with the goal of raising at least $5,000 for the organization.

Harvey said he would like to continue working with Phoenix House, which runs programs in 10 different states.

Seiniger said the fitness centers are just one more tool to use in the fight against addiction.

“Our job at Phoenix House is to guide and assist the men here to their recovery,” he said. “We can’t make them get it, but if we can lay as many tools at their feet as possible, they may get it.

To learn more about Dawgpatch Bandits or to make a donation, visit dawgpatchbandits.com.