Bob Coté the founder of the alcohol and drug rehabilitation center Step 13 was truly one of a kind as was the charity he founded. A former boxer from the mean streets of Detroit he knew what it was to be an alcoholic and homeless in Denver. He had been a white collar salesman who was able to hide his addiction for a while before spiraling down into alcohol dependence and hopelessness. He was at heart a “street fighting” man who took no gruff from anyone no matter how important or mean they were.

Having saved himself from addiction and despair he walked the alleys and byways of pre-yuppieized downtown Denver carrying a baseball bat searching for souls to save from the hell he personally knew all too well.Bob Cote

Even the name of the charity he founded “Step 13” was as idiosyncratic as its founder. It is almost universally initially assumed that it refers to a proposed next step after the 12 step program of Alcohol Anonymous, but instead it is homage to the original 13 colonies of America and Jesus and his 12 disciples. He quickly found out that modern American governmental agencies (federal, state and local) wanted absolutely nothing to do with any charity whose name was picked to honor patriotism and Christianity. They would do whatever they could to destroy a man who was quickly succeeding in making a real difference in lives of homeless drug and alcohol addicted men in Denver.

He said he knew what these men needed, as he had needed it so badly in his time of despair — “A hand up, not a hand out.” He wanted for those he helped what all men wanted (including himself) — dignity and self respect. He believed that only came from work and self reliance. He could never figure out why people like John Hickenlooper for all his purported concern about these men never got it. In his mind all that the Hickenloopers of the world offered these men was dependence and suffering or as he called “suicide by the installment plan.”

He viewed most of the members of the Denver City Council as “jackals” and “hyenas” who poured money into programs like the “Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness” (now known as “The Road Home”) which in his mind were simply bureaucratic sinecures for those who have never actually helped another human being in their entire lives. He viewed the Coalition for the Homeless as little more than the “Coalition to Exploit the Homeless” where the top personnel pay themselves handsome six figure salaries on the backs of the homeless.

That his charity Step 13 succeeded without ever taking any money from the government was amazing to him. He saw himself as a type of rough-hewed Forest Gump. More by accident than design he found businessmen like Bill Daniels and Cortlandt Dietler who were will willing to support and fund his vision while he worked tirelessly to make Step 13 a self-sufficient enterprise.

When he died last September replacing him seemed impossible. But the individuals who are on the Board of Directors had seen with their own eyes how Step 13 had literally saved men from their own destruction and that for such an organization to die while the harmful and invidious government funded programs lived on to exploit and destroy the lives of the humans they purported to help was too much to bear.

After months of fruitless efforts they found a man who seemed to be just the type of person they were looking for — Peter Droege. He was not in any sense a younger Bob Coté — that mold had been broken and thrown away when Coté came into the world.

Moreover, Peter Droege is most definitely not a “street fighting” man but rather the son of two artists who went to Central City to escape the real world and open up a giPeter Droegeft shop to display and sell artistic items. He attended the University of Wyoming and then headed out to California to be a journalist in Los Angeles. He returned to Colorado to work on various local publications. He joined the Daniels Fund, the billion dollar legacy of cable pioneer and Step 13 supporter Bill Daniels, where he rose to Vice President of Communications before coming over to Step 13 as its executive director.

Droege has had his own battles with “demon rum” and knows what addiction can do to you. He met Coté in 2001 and helped co-chair the 25th Anniversary of Step 13 held at Infinity Park just prior to Coté’s death.

Bob Coté made it abundantly clear to you whether he liked you or not. His magnetic personality attracted many people, but he also repelled more than his share of individuals sometimes unnecessarily. He just couldn’t help himself when he found himself in the presence of someone he believed to be a self important phony whether or not the person could have been of great aid to his enterprise.

Peter Droege on the other hand is a uniter. Quickly after meeting him, he makes you feel that you have known him your entire life and the two of you are the closest of friends. His infectious, positive enthusiasm makes you feel that just about anything can be accomplished.

He has already made important alliances including one with Goodwill Denver. He has adopted as his own the mantra “Get a job, get a better job, get a career.” He believes to his core, like Coté before him, that finding jobs and careers for the men who Step 13 assists is the key to making them whole again. Goodwill Denver’s Career Connection Centers are one-stop shops for career developments that work perfectly with Step 13’s mission.

He has also been successful in getting more and more people to contribute cars, boats, motorcycles etc. to Step 13 for them to repair, fix and resell while making sure the donor gets the highest allowable tax deduction for his or her donation.

The unique Step 13 organization appears in good hands with Droege, although when you refuse all governmental funds you are constantly going to be challenged in obtaining necessary funding.

If you want to give to a charity to make yourself feel good there are lots of organizations out there with which you can accomplish your goal. If you want give to an organization that really does make a life-changing difference in the lives of others, Step 13 has proved to be just such a charity, first under Bob Coté and now under Peter Droege.

— Editorial Board

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