TNC
03-26-2005, 08:38 AM
Stephanie Eddy
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 03-26-2005
Coalition needs to raise $400,000 for start-up costs
Two Boise organizations that help drug abusers say the community can't afford to wait any longer for the city of Boise to develop a long-sought drug and alcohol detoxification center in Boise.
So, Community Detox Coalition and Supportive Housing & Innovative Partnerships are organizing a series of events aimed at raising money and awareness toward establishing a "social detox center" that will be medically supervised and include therapeutic community treatments programs.
The first fund-raiser, a concert dubbed Rock for Detox, will be held tonight at The Venue in Boise.
Peter Wadams, a network administrator at Hewlett-Packard, is a drummer and vocalist with progressive metal band Xex, which will perform at the concert.
Several years ago when driving a taxi, Wadams said he witnessed some of the devastating effects of drug and alcohol abuse in the community. He said he often found himself picking up the same clients month after month — dropping them off at an emergency room for treatment of drug- and alcohol- related ailments, only to see them return the next month for the same thing.
"You see it firsthand — the necessity for it, " Wadams said. "It really puts it into perspective. Ignoring the situation doesn't make it not happen."
Mike Nelson, a dispatcher and driver at Boise City Taxi, said he sees the results of drug problems daily. Extreme examples include driving a 14-year-old going through heroin withdrawal home from the hospital and delivering a 12-year-old to the emergency room because she was so intoxicated she couldn't breathe, he said.
"I deal with it (drug and alcohol abuse) every day — sometimes 5, 6, 7 times a day," Nelson said.
He and other drivers agree that the community should move toward creating a long-awaited detox center in Boise so that they would have somewhere safe to drop off clients seeking help.
For former taxi driver Wadams, Rock for Detox is more personal.
"I'm doing this mainly as a favor to my father — a detox center saved his life. It's a project my dad has been involved with for a long time," Wadams said. "He was talking to me about raising money, so I said we should put on a heavy metal show and see what happens — every little bit helps."
As a professional alcohol and drug counselor for 20-plus years, Ralph Fouch, a spokesperson for the Community Detox Coalition, said he has seen the need for detox services over and over again.
"When you go to a medical detox, they dry you out, get you feeling good and pump you full of vitamins," Fouch said. "Then you leave, you're feeling pretty good and you stay clean for 2-3 days — maybe. Without any access to further treatment, you go right back to using again.
"In a social detox, we expose you to the beginnings of treatment through the 12-Step Program and through professional counseling. That way, you are stepping back into a community that is friendly to your needs and looking to support your desire to recover — you won't come out alone," he said.
The coalition will need to raise about $400,000. The money will be used to secure a building, staff, furnishings and other start-up expenses for a social detox.
Tentative plans call for a sobering station that can accommodate up to 12 people, plus seven two-person private rooms where clients will begin the rehabilitation process with support from the 12-Step community. Clients would stay at the social detox center for three to 10 days, depending on the circumstances, Fouch said.
"In addition to detox, we also are putting together a therapeutic community which would provide residential treatment for people coming out of detox. The programming would last at least 90 days up to 12 months depending on the situation," said SHIP executive director Melanie Curtis. SHIP is a nonprofit organization that oversees a recovery-based residence for drug and alcohol abusers.
The coalition and SHIP have been working with the city of Boise in a joint effort to bring a detox center to the Treasure Valley. But, while supporters await the outcome of meetings and funding obstacles, the need for detox services continues to grow, they say.
"Detox is not treatment," Fouch said. "It will be a place for them to get their mental and physical acuity back to the point where they can face reality again. All we do is give them an introduction to recovery.
"We started this because nothing was happening," he said. "We've met with the mayor and we are going to be on the coalition he is forming.
"We don't care who gets a detox center started in this town — we just want to be sure one does."
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 03-26-2005
Coalition needs to raise $400,000 for start-up costs
Two Boise organizations that help drug abusers say the community can't afford to wait any longer for the city of Boise to develop a long-sought drug and alcohol detoxification center in Boise.
So, Community Detox Coalition and Supportive Housing & Innovative Partnerships are organizing a series of events aimed at raising money and awareness toward establishing a "social detox center" that will be medically supervised and include therapeutic community treatments programs.
The first fund-raiser, a concert dubbed Rock for Detox, will be held tonight at The Venue in Boise.
Peter Wadams, a network administrator at Hewlett-Packard, is a drummer and vocalist with progressive metal band Xex, which will perform at the concert.
Several years ago when driving a taxi, Wadams said he witnessed some of the devastating effects of drug and alcohol abuse in the community. He said he often found himself picking up the same clients month after month — dropping them off at an emergency room for treatment of drug- and alcohol- related ailments, only to see them return the next month for the same thing.
"You see it firsthand — the necessity for it, " Wadams said. "It really puts it into perspective. Ignoring the situation doesn't make it not happen."
Mike Nelson, a dispatcher and driver at Boise City Taxi, said he sees the results of drug problems daily. Extreme examples include driving a 14-year-old going through heroin withdrawal home from the hospital and delivering a 12-year-old to the emergency room because she was so intoxicated she couldn't breathe, he said.
"I deal with it (drug and alcohol abuse) every day — sometimes 5, 6, 7 times a day," Nelson said.
He and other drivers agree that the community should move toward creating a long-awaited detox center in Boise so that they would have somewhere safe to drop off clients seeking help.
For former taxi driver Wadams, Rock for Detox is more personal.
"I'm doing this mainly as a favor to my father — a detox center saved his life. It's a project my dad has been involved with for a long time," Wadams said. "He was talking to me about raising money, so I said we should put on a heavy metal show and see what happens — every little bit helps."
As a professional alcohol and drug counselor for 20-plus years, Ralph Fouch, a spokesperson for the Community Detox Coalition, said he has seen the need for detox services over and over again.
"When you go to a medical detox, they dry you out, get you feeling good and pump you full of vitamins," Fouch said. "Then you leave, you're feeling pretty good and you stay clean for 2-3 days — maybe. Without any access to further treatment, you go right back to using again.
"In a social detox, we expose you to the beginnings of treatment through the 12-Step Program and through professional counseling. That way, you are stepping back into a community that is friendly to your needs and looking to support your desire to recover — you won't come out alone," he said.
The coalition will need to raise about $400,000. The money will be used to secure a building, staff, furnishings and other start-up expenses for a social detox.
Tentative plans call for a sobering station that can accommodate up to 12 people, plus seven two-person private rooms where clients will begin the rehabilitation process with support from the 12-Step community. Clients would stay at the social detox center for three to 10 days, depending on the circumstances, Fouch said.
"In addition to detox, we also are putting together a therapeutic community which would provide residential treatment for people coming out of detox. The programming would last at least 90 days up to 12 months depending on the situation," said SHIP executive director Melanie Curtis. SHIP is a nonprofit organization that oversees a recovery-based residence for drug and alcohol abusers.
The coalition and SHIP have been working with the city of Boise in a joint effort to bring a detox center to the Treasure Valley. But, while supporters await the outcome of meetings and funding obstacles, the need for detox services continues to grow, they say.
"Detox is not treatment," Fouch said. "It will be a place for them to get their mental and physical acuity back to the point where they can face reality again. All we do is give them an introduction to recovery.
"We started this because nothing was happening," he said. "We've met with the mayor and we are going to be on the coalition he is forming.
"We don't care who gets a detox center started in this town — we just want to be sure one does."