In Portsmouth: Stepping down from prevention

Ray Davis, a key figure in shedding light on local substance abuse issues, has retired

By Jim McGaw
Posted 7/7/22

PORTSMOUTH — Ray Davis has been involved in substance abuse prevention issues for decades, but said he has nothing on one of his family members.

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In Portsmouth: Stepping down from prevention

Ray Davis, a key figure in shedding light on local substance abuse issues, has retired

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Ray Davis has been involved in substance abuse prevention issues for decades, but said he has nothing on one of his family members.

“I have an uncle who I think is the smartest prevention guy ever,” Davis said. “He’s a town barber in West Virginia. He said to me once, ‘Don’t ever forget that you were a kid once.’” 

That advice shaped the way he approached his job as a substance abuse prevention specialist: Never judge a young person, but always take time to listen to what they say.

“I like kids because they have a great (B.S.) detector. They can tell when you’re preaching at them, or when you’re a hypocrite. They judge you by your actions, and that’s something not to lose sight of.” 

After a long career that also involved social work, child protective services, and community organizing, Davis is retiring as assistant director of the Newport County Prevention Coalition, which provides substance use prevention strategies, mental health advocacy, and treatment options to Newport County. Before that he was coordinator of the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition, which works closely with the regional coalition. Both groups have offices at the Leonard Brown House at Glen Farm.

“It’s bittersweet to see a friend and a colleague moving on to the next phase of his life,” said Rebecca Elwell, director of the Newport County Prevention Coalition. “Bittersweet for us, but so sweet for him having so much to look forward to. We’re grateful that Ray has given his life to a career, first through social work, child protective services, and then to prevention. One of Ray’s greatest strengths is that ability to create relationships with people. That’s not a skill people can learn; that’s something you’ve either got, or not. You really have to trust the person you’re speaking with.”

Davis said he remembers people telling him he’ll know when it’s time to retire.

“It’s true,” he said. “But I’ve got a new word for it. I’m not retiring; I’m repurposing. I’m 72 years old, I’m in pretty good health. I’m lucky for that, and I have most of my wits about me. I’ve also got something in my life, my music. It’s always been extremely important to me, and it still is.”

Davis plays bass and sings in a local band called The 40. Before that he was in a Beatles tribute band, Abbey Rhode. He’s quick to point out that music isn’t just a hobby for him, even though he’s never made a lot of money playing it. He still gets a thrill out of collaborating with other musicians, and says he’ll now have more time to focus on that.

“I love being a musician, because you’re always learning,” said Davis, who also hopes to fly-fish and cruise on his 100th Anniversary Harley Davidson motorcycle more, despite a scare on May 31 when he was knocked to the ground after colliding with a distracted driver just a block from his home in Common Fence Point. (He suffered bumps and bruises, but no broken bones. “I was lucky,” said Davis, noting he always wears a helmet and drives cautiously.)

Davis grew up in a town right next to Kent State University in Ohio, and was heavily involved in the burgeoning music scene which included Kent students Joe Walsh (The James Gang/The Eagles) and members of Devo. However, he had a problem with alcohol and some other substances, and playing fraternity parties didn’t help.

A few years after moving to Aquidneck island in the early ’80s, Davis had an epiphany and joined AA. He’s been in recovery for 35 years and hasn’t had a drink since.

“It’s something that’s very important to me,” he said. “The need to drink or alter my consciousness in some way was put in the back seat when I decided I have a problem here and I need to do something about it.”

Davis first got into prevention while working for Child & Family Services as an investigator for child abuse and neglect cases. He applied for the job of prevention specialist at CODAC and was hired by Linda Hurley, now the executive director. He stayed for more than six years and earned his certification, and also helped Caritas House establish a place locally. Along the way, he learned much about the local prevention coalitions in Newport County.

“Rhode Island’s lucky; we’re the only state where it was mandated that every town had to have what they used to call a substance abuse prevention task force. It was initially started because of tobacco issues. Then it morphed into underage drinking, then marijuana. The opioid thing hit, and now it’s vaping,” he said.

Came aboard in late ’90s

He first worked with the Newport coalition, and then the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition as a citizen before being appointed in the late ’90s. “I think that’s what really made me feel I was part of Portsmouth,” said Davis, who by then had gotten married and bought a home here. 

Davis soon learned that parents are among the best prevention specialists because of their concern for their own kids. One of his jobs was to connect parents with the people who could directly answer their questions.

“They wanted to know why the doors were open around the high school; this is before things had changed with school security. They wanted to know more about the police department, so we got the police chief to talk to a group of six, eight people,” he said.

One of his biggest accomplishments in Portsmouth were the needs assessment surveys that asked local children, parents and educators about substance abuse issues in town. “We had a true picture of what the substance abuse issues really were in Portsmouth, and we took it before the School Committee and the Town Council,” he said. “Prevention is fact-based, with stringent evaluation. It’s having the connections with the community through the coalitions and participating agencies, and informing the people who are responsible — legislators, school committee, school administrators, parents.”

People like Jim Seveney and Terry Cortvriend, first as members of the Town Council and School Committee and then as state legislators, threw their support behind local prevention efforts, he said. “(Seveney) listened to what we were trying to do when he was on the Town Council. And, when he ran for Senate, he actually got involved, trying to figure out how to help us get more things from BHDDH (the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals).”

This “old hippy” — Davis still wears his middle-parted hair about an inch below his ears — also found support from someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum: Larry Fitzmorris, president of the government watchdog group Portsmouth Concerned Citizens. “Larry and I are on the opposite ends of political things, but he supported everything we tried to do around prevention. He was an ally when it came to that,” Davis said.

The Portsmouth job was too much for too little money, however, and he left as coordinator in 2018. “I did it as long as I could do it in Portsmouth. I was working 20 hours but I worked over 200 hours of overtime every single year, and I’m a contractor — no benefits and working out of my house. I was so frustrated by the lack of support from BHDDH,” said Davis, adding the job also took a toll on his marriage. (He’s now single.)

Still, he’s proud of the Portsmouth coalition’s accomplishments. “It really gave me a sense of what we can do with very little money.”

Davis went on to become assistant director on the Newport County Prevention Coalition, working alongside Director Rebecca Elwell, whom he credits for not only her skills as a prevention specialist, but her ability to attract large federal grants to both regional and local coalitions. “We’ve accomplished more in Newport County in the last six years than it did in the previous 16, when we were under BHDDH,” he said.

Clergy as partners in prevention

In 2018, the regional coalition reached out to the faith community in Newport County because they are a “protective factor” in prevention, Davis said. “Through the opioid crisis, we realized they have a great deal to do with prevention because people may confide in a priest or a minister before they go to a police officer.” 

Davis said Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island was skeptical at first, but he ended up authorizing the dissemination of a “prevention toolkit” to the rectors and priests in 54 churches in the Diocese of Rhode Island. 

“They addressed it from the pulpit as a health issue rather than a moral failing,” said Davis, who also credits St. Barnabas Church in Portsmouth for its strong support on prevention issues.

Although he’s stepping down from his job, Davis said he looks forward to testifying on any legislation regarding prevention. “I can do that now because I’d be a private citizen. Because we are paid with federal funds, we’re not allowed to make any comments — pro or con — against any legislation that’s being discussed. There has been no state tax money that’s ever come to prevention here.” 

Scholarship in his name

For now, the Newport County Prevention Coalition has no plans to replace Davis. “He’s irreplaceable,” said Elwell, noting that the group is establishing a Ray Davis Prevention Scholarship.

“The plan is a $1,000 scholarship annually for a graduate of a Newport County high school,” he said. “It will be a student who has an interest in pursuing music or social work, ingraining two of Ray’s passions. If they’re involved in prevention, all the better. If not, this gives them maybe something more to think about when they go off to college. We’re beginning our fund-raising to do that.”

Until then, you can catch him playing with The 40, which will have a busy schedule in August.

“Music is the way I can express myself without bragging about myself, or something like that. It makes me kind of stay young inside,” Davis said.

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.