Man turns his life away from drug abuse and brings others along with him

From the time capsule: Reporter Marcus Jones profiles Nathaniel Hakim Askia, founder of FIRST, INC., a residential substance abuse recovery and education center in the heart of Boston's black community.

The idea for FIRST, INC. came to Askia and six other ex-addicts in the mid-1960s as they sat in the Deer Island House of Correction without any treatment for the drug and alcohol addictions that had brought them to prison to begin with. The seven began their own support group, helping each other to rip the tether of addiction and plan their futures. When Askia got out, he resolved to make the support he and his friends had created available to the broader community. In 1970, FIRST INC. - For Individuals Returning to Sound Thinking - opened in a 19th-century mansion on Centre Street in Roxbury.