A Profile in Kindness

For several years we have been receiving donations from a manufacturer in South El Monte called Neostone. They manufacture high end sports wear for men and women. The timing of this donation, normally coming in the late Fall, is perfect for our Christmas event, helping us to give badly needed, brand new clothes to our clients.

Neostone was founded in 1993 by Mr. & Mrs. Cheng, who immigrated from Taiwan with their family. In their retirement, their son Allan Cheng has been running the company. Allan is an amazingly accomplished man. He received his undergraduate degree at Berkeley, a Master's in Industrial Engineering from Stanford and his MBA from UCLA. In the early part of this year he turned the day to day operations of Neostone over to his brother, Cheng Cheng and began concentrating on another company located in Alhambra. Allan's new company provides full service insurance for home, auto and life and you can find him on the internet at www.myfinancialfuture.biz.

The Cheng's are a naturally philanthropic family. They give when and where help is needed. Coming from Taiwan, they have been giving aid to the families there who have suffered from recent natural disasters in that country. Fortunately for us, the Cheng family have found the men and women of Impact to be worthy beneficiaries here in their adopted country of America. Thank goodness for that.

Memorial for David Nicassio

Very Sadly, we lost a dear, dear friend. David Nicassio, who has been our friend and family member since the 70s lost a valient fight to cancer when he died at the City of Hope.

We are having a memorial for David on Saturday, October 24 from 11am til 2pm. Lunch will be served.

Impact is at 1680 N. Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103, question, call me at 626-798-0884.

Jill Taylor and More for the Impact Women

Another layer of treatment at Impact that I've never spoken about includes special events and some "perks" that we are able to give clients because of the kindness of our donors.

I'll start by talking about the Jill Taylor Fund. It was founded by the family of Jill Taylor, an accomplished and beautiful young woman whom we came to know when she came through Impact as a client. She remained in the Pasadena community after her treatment. She was a beloved sister, daughter and friend to many men and women, and she was an attorney. Her heart's dream was to shake off this disease and live a life in recovery. Sadly, it didn't work out this way. Her family believed that it would have pleased Jill to help women new to recovery who were in less fortunate circumstances than she with their basic needs.

This year alone her fund has done phenomenal work. Imagine going out and looking for work without teeth. As an old sponsor once said, "My sponor told me to go get a job, and I told him I look horrible. He told me 'Then go get a horrible job!'" Well, The Fund provided for two of our women to get new teeth! Both of these women are now employed and clean for more than one year.

We have gotten new glasses for two women. Optical care is another health care issue that is nearly impossible (like dental) to have taken care of unless you have cash money. It is not covered for the poor or indigent.

We have provided our women with clothing that we can't provide through the usual channels: a properly fitting bra, the right size shoes, new socks; XXL sizes; work clothes for women who get jobs requiring specific uniform clothes.

The Jill Taylor Fund has afforded us the luxury of helping women in ways we never could before. It's a wonderful thing. In total, just this year we have spent $9,377.95 from this fund and we want to acknowledge the Taylor family and friends who have provided for this amazing gift to our women.

In August, we took all of the women to the Huntington Museum in San Marino. Have you ever been there? The last Thursday of the month is free to the public, look it up on the website and go. It is breathtaking.

Treatment is not just meetings and writing and counseling. It is a whole mind, body and soul kind of thing. Everyone needs a lot of beauty, serenity, spirituality. At least that's how I see it. And those are things you will find at the Huntington.

So we loaded up the vans, poured through the gates and told everyone where to meet at 4 p.m. I simply suggested that they don't miss the art museum, the Japanese Gardens or the lily ponds. But that they were free to explore on their own. Gale and I spent a great deal of time inside the museums because it was much cooler than the 100 plus degrees outside, and the Frank Lloyd Wright furniture exibit is irresistable to me, then we spent ages "meditating" on the scene above the Japanese Gardens. Throughout, we passed the Impact women and they were enjoying everything about it.

I always remember the day we took the House to the Van Gough Exibit at the LA Art Museum and a 40 plus woman from the House told a curator that it was her first visit ever in her life to a museum! That's why we do it.

Lot's of Passion, But Cash Always Helps

In 1969 someone, and I'm not naming any names (Bob Barrett) got the idea that addicts could use a place to get clean, learn about Narcotics Anonymous, and start a new life. Period. That it happened to evolve into Impact, a treatment center that has continued to lead the way in addiction treatment ever since then, is the coincidence of the genius and passion of the men and women who came into treatment in those early years, coupled with the extreme need of a community that was and is wrestling with ever-increasing substance addiction problems.

And then in 1973, a small band of passionate men and women entered Impact for treatment who stayed to become the core, the very heart and soul of what we do here. Sadly, only a few remain. One of them is Jim Stillwell, our Executive Director, a man who could have run any of America's top corporations. Watch him today as he handles the mostly bad news of California's economy, a downward sliding affair that very directly affects Impact's income, our ability to treat men and women who daily place desperate calls to us for help. Jim doesn't give up, he doesn't punish the indigent as our politicians do, he makes solutions. Another of our leaders stemming from 1973 is Debi Stillwell (yes, they met here) who is the Human Resources Coordinator. Impact has won awards for its leadership in Human Resources. I'll tell you more about her later.

But what I wanted to talk about really, was the 40th Birthday. Impact was a Grassroots operation. When it was founded by Bob Barrett and another clean addict and a woman who had only recently lost her son to an overdose, they funded the first location by having a dance. They made a couple of hundred dollars. Thy used the money to rent a house in Sun Valley and brought in a few addicts to detox and get clean and go to NA meetings and that is how it started. There were no other programs to imitate. There were no rules. It was a work in progress, and what a work it became.

Who woulda thunk it? So 40 years later. I sent out a letter and asked people for a gift of $40 for 40 years, and we got $7,300! Pretty nice, isn't it? I want to thank all of those people for their gifts. Some people sent in $15. Some sent in $1,000. People do what they can. And we are grateful.

And just so you know, we currently have eight clients who are in treatment who are here for free. No cash, no insurance, no federal, state, county contracts. That is why we are always asking for money. That is how you can help.

The CNN Interview on Impact's Campus

Dental dopers

This is the CNN news interview that took place in our kitchen. Just click on the prompt "Dental Dopers". You will have to watch a teensy commercial first and then Kenny and Jim's interviews will be played.

Gary Silverman - the Face Behind the Fund

In 1984 a young man named Gary Silverman, while in Impact for treatment, wrote this letter to his parents Joe & Harlean:

Dear Mom & Dad,

I am learning every aspect of not only working in the kitchen, but working with other drug addicts from every walk of life, there really is a very accurate cross-section of society here. I feel comfortable here and truly have hope and strength and when I can't find it in myself, there are always people at my side to lend their hopes and strengths and support...these people are all here for the same reason, so that no one is really that different from the other, and in that way I feel part of the house and the miracle that goes on here every day...

Gary stayed on at Impact after treatment to become a caseworker, however, shortly before he would celebrate his second year clean from drugs, Gary passed away. His father was with him in the hospital just before he died. He was talking about what Impact meant to him, how it had given him the strength to stay clean and told him that the last two years of his life had been the best he could remember since he had been twelve years old. Gary asked that his parents keep a watchful eye over Impact and do what they could for us.

Joe Silverman, Gary's father, came onto the Impact Board and served faithfully for twenty two years. For the past two years he has been on the Associate Board and is a treasured advisor to Impact's Director, Jim Stillwell, most especially on the subject of financial matters. His contributions to Impact have been immeasurable and we are grateful to him for his supportive dedication to our mission.

Gary's beautiful (inside and out) mother Harlean, has been our support, right alongside Joe for all these years. What we share is a mutual love and gratitude for a program that brought so much joy and peace to Gary and so many addicts who are seeking relief from this viscious disease.

The Silverman's established a fund - The Gary Silverman Fund - which over the years has helped countless men and women get their lives jumpstarted. Whatever the need, this fund has been able to help out. Whether it's clothes for work, or teeth or glasses, possibly an emergency at home or car insurance to get to a first job - you name it - a no-interest loan or a gift from the Silverman Fund has gotten many men and women who are just beginning a new, clean life, what they need to get out there.

This fund is sustained by donations from the Silverman family and individual donors. Like you. If you want to participate, go back to our website and make a PayPal contribution, or call and ask for me (Arlene) and I will help you.

If you have seen photos of our facility, or if you've been here, you've seen the beautiful fountain up on the Eastern half of the residential facility. This was built by the Silverman Family and dedicated to Gary. When I lived upstairs (we called this section Beverly Hills), I could lie in bed at night and listen to the beautiful sound of this fountain.

Over the past 40 years Impact has been fortunate to have had men and women like the Silvermans who are as committed to helping our clients as we are, and we are very grateful for that. This partnership and others like this allows us to continue to bring the best possible treatment to the desperate men and women who come to us seeking relief for this tragic disease.

Preempted, Obviously

Well, if you tried to watch Jim and Kenny on TV today you will have seen that we were preempted by the Supreme Court Justice Hearings. Regretfully, I cannot give you any information on a reschedule.