RECOVERING ADDICT GAINS NEW LIFE AS BUSINESSMAN.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

Joe Thomas is somewhat of an expert on alcohol and drug rehab programs.

He's spent more time, toil and money on them than he'd like to remember. But after each one, he went back to the bottle to nurse a wounded spirit.

In 1990, after spending 23 years working his way from gas station attendant to manager of an auto repair shop, Thomas' comfortable life in Thousand Oaks came crashing to an end.

``Looking at me from the outside, rather than the inside, I had it going,'' said Thomas, who graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in 1966 and spent most of his adulthood in town. ``Between me and my wife, we were making close to $100,000 a year. I really seemed to have it going on, but you had to look further than just the outside.''

First he lost his job to drinking. Then he lost his wife of 23 years.

He sought consolation in the bottle, which further plunged his life into a downward spiral that led from one treatment program to another.

``In 1990, I went through six programs, none of which worked,'' said Thomas, 50. ``In fact, in the last program I was in, I met a girl who was a heroin addict, so she introduced me to heroin. It's amazing. All I had worked for, in one year, I lost it all.''

A severe case of delirium tremens and double pneumonia put him in the county medical center, where he slipped into a coma. Doctors told his family to prepare for the worst.

But after 14 days, he came out of his coma. Three days later he was out of the hospital.

He checked into a motel and tried to kick his heroin habit. His skin felt like it was crawling from within.

Another bout with the DTs and pneumonia sent Thomas back to the hospital. Doctors gave him tranquilizer shots to stop the shaking and recommended relatives take him to the Ventura County Rescue Mission to detoxify.

Today, eight years after he entered the mission on a stretcher, Thomas has overcome his addictions. Now he oversees the mission's thriving for-profit enterprises: two thrift stores, wholesale used clothing operations and the mission's used car lot.

The thrift stores alone generate more than $1 million a year to support mission programs for addicts, the homeless and others.

``Joe puts wheels on the vision,'' said Jerry Roberg, executive director of the Rescue Mission Alliance, the mission's umbrella organization. ``This industry is a lot of dirty, hard work. But it's always rewarding when you take something that people want to throw away and you can find value in it. It's kind of like the people we work with here at the mission.''

Unlike the expensive, two-week treatment programs Thomas had previously entered, the mission offered a free, one-year rehabilitation program based on the Bible.

``You can't change someone's habits in two weeks,'' Thomas said. ``I also thought it was my last chance because I'd messed up so many times . . . There was hope, because it was based on God.''

After the first few days, Thomas came out of the ``fog'' that had clouded his mind, he said. The severe stuttering that plagued him when he was sober immediately vanished. Gradually his outlook changed, and more importantly, so did his perception of himself.

``For me (other programs) didn't work because I kept saying, `I'm an alcoholic.' So I'd go back and do what I do best - I'd drink. But I am not an alcoholic. I'm a new person in Christ.''

While going through the program, Thomas put his management skills to work as the program's resident manager. When he graduated from the rehab, Roberg tapped him to set up and run the mission's first thrift store.

``Joe has grown as a person,'' said Roberg, who founded the mission in 1988 with his wife, Carol. ``He's an excellent leader. He's a good motivator, and he has the ability to move things forward.''

When Thomas started in 1993, he didn't know the first thing about running a thrift store. Now he's a savvy businessman who has worked out deals to swap broken computers, televisions and VCRs for appliances that can be sold.

And when Thomas found out one customer was actually a dealer hunting for valuable, but easily overlooked, vintage clothing wanted by a Japanese buyer, Thomas made her a deal she couldn't refuse.

``I told her if she agreed to teach me what to look for, I'd save it and sell to her exclusively,'' he said. ``It's a good deal for us because that stuff doesn't get by us any more.''

A donated pair of Nike Air Jordan shoes fetched the mission a tidy $250. A pair of rare Levi's brought in a jaw-dropping $1,300.

The mission's used car lot, which Thomas oversees, is likewise doing well since it opened almost two years ago.

The mission typically receives about 125 donated vehicles a month. Cars that need work are fixed up and smog checked by mechanics and apprentices in the mission's job training program, Operation Work. About half are sold to retail buyers from the mission's Oxnard lot. The rest are typically sold to wholesalers.

``I love business - the planning and strategy,'' said Thomas, sitting behind his modest desk in the linoleum-floored office he shares with two others. ``So I get to run a business. I get to teach the word of God. And I get to talk to people and hopefully encourage them.

``And I get paid for that,'' he added with a laugh. ``It's great.''

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PHOTO (Color) Eight years ago, Joe Thomas entered the Ventura County Rescue Mission on a stretcher. Now he manages the center's businesses.

Andy Holzman/Daily News