Springfield Chamber of Commerce Awards Ceremony
Veteran Community Service Award
Veteran Community Service Award recipient Druitt is a Vietnam veteran who turned to trouble and drinking when he returned from war. He worked for a national security team for 25 years — until his PTSD flared up in a way that pushed him to seek a spiritual solution. A near fatal auto accident in 2001 finalized his decision. Soon his life revolved around church, prayer groups, prison ministries and Alcoholics Anonymous. With his military background and struggles with PTSD and alcohol, Druitt was an immediate hit with the men he met in prison. Since he could no longer work in an office due to his own extreme anxiety, Druitt went door-to-door offering painting services. Little by little, he asked some of the ex-convicts he met to join him.
Then, in 2012, he started DreamCoat Quality Painting, a home improvement company that employs male and female ex-convicts. He and his wife, Kathleen, lost their house to fire recently and then Druitt suffered a paralyzing stroke. But through it all he has been a rock for his family, for the veterans and convicts he works with and ministers to, and for all with whom he comes in contact.