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Does Porter County really have that many women who need the services that Alice's is offering?
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The Mercer Actuarial Estimate reports the prevalence of addicted persons in Porter County is 1,668. Though we do not have statistics by gender, we do know that women comprise 51 % of Porter County's population, and we know that chemical dependency knows no gender bias. Therefore, we may estimate that Porter County has 834 addicted women. This report states that those receiving treatment for the year 2002 is listed as 326, again we may estimate that 163 are women. Please note, these figures only include the small number of those citizens who are 18 years and older, and live at or under 200% of the Federal poverty guidelines. There are many, many more who exceed this arbitrary economic limit
and even more who are not
receiving treatment at all. It can be
reasoned that among the number of
women who are addicted many are
mothers with young children, who
have nowhere to go for help.
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Why can't these women simply go to Greenwich House, The Caring Place, or Spring Valley Shelter?
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Greenwich House is a program providing care for the persistently mentally ill. While many women suffering from addictions are, indeed, "dual diagnosis" (mental illness and substance abuse), not all women are. Also, Greenwich House does not have facilities or a program structured for housing young children.
The Caring Place provides a safe shelter for families who are victims of violence. Though substance abuse is frequently part of the problem, more often the substance abuser is the perpetrator of the violence not the victim. The Caring Place does not offer structured supervised activities focused on the recovery from chemical dependency that Alice's can offer.
Spring Valley Shelter (Porter County's only transitional facility for the homeless) does not provide 24hour staffing, on-site meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, or training specifically focused on issues of recovery. It also is not set up to provide the high level of structured supervision that a half-way house like Alice's can provide.
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What is the difference between a "halfway house" and some other facilities currently available to women in Porter County like the Women's Recovery Center?
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The Women's Recovery Center and other similar residences are boarding houses congenial places with some staff on-site welcoming women who share common issues, for example, issues related to abuse of drugs and alcohol. They do not provide mandatory shared common meals or 24-hour supervisory staff, nor do they provide the high level of intensive structure to which a halfway house commits.
A halfway house provides a far more rigorous structure as an integral part of long-term recovery based on a 12-step model as well as on-site counseling and education. And, most important, Alice's is the only place that is established to allow mothers of young children to have their children live with them even while they are in the earliest posttreatment recovery days.
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Can Porter County afford another not-for-profit agency during these trying economic times?
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Porter County residents
have always been generous and caring whenever they understood that there was a problem in their community that needed to be addressed.
The issue of women leaving addiction treatment and having no safe place to go for transition toward the rest of their recovery is very real in Porter County. It will not go away. These women, many mothers of young children, can be assisted toward success in their recovery, or they can be left on their own to deal with it, usually unsuccessfully. Without support like Alice's, Porter County citizens will bear the costs of failure that impact many areas of our community.
We can support a program like Alice's or we can continue to spend our money on incarceration and repeated medical and mental health stays. These costs are significantly more expensive in the long run. We must also consider the emotional challenges to family members and friends, the interruption of education, and the loss to employers; as well as the great expense to Porter County in human services. For these reasons it is in Porter County's best economic interest to create and sustain a
program like Alice's. Even more importantly Porter County understands the benefits of healthy mothers and children. That is priceless.
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Why should I give money now to a program that doesn't even exist yet? Why not wait until it's up and running?
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We hope you will continue supporting Alice's when we open the doors and for many years after that! But right now, it's imperative to enlist the community's support in order to acquire the property, hire the initial staff, and get the program on its feet and running. It's very hard for any new organization to get started! We're counting on your catching our vision of service and caring for these women who are waiting today for Alice's to open.
The recent presentation to the Quality of Life Council by the Porter County Community Action Drug Coalition and the Community Behavioral Health Network called for an "affordable, full treatment continuum." Alice's Board and many other caring Porter County citizens recognize that such a continuum demands the inclusion of halfway-houses to help in the recovery process. We believe that Alice's can be one critical participant in that continuum of
care. Join us in our vision of service and caring for the women who are waiting today for Alice's to open.
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Well, will I be the first donor?
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No, indeed! Alice's already has commitments from our Board members for more than $20,000 as well as an anonymous commitment in the amount of $50,000. Other gifts are coming in every day. The Porter County Substance Abuse Council has recognized this need and followed that recognition with a grant of $10,000 during 2002-03. We're hard at work soliciting gifts from businesses, churches, civic organizations, and foundations locally and beyond, as well. Members of the Alice's Board of Directors and friends of Alice's are planning different kinds of fundraisers for the future. We hope you'll watch for those and support them, too.
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