Give to Impact

Christmas at Impact

2010-02-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

It's late, yes, but I've been busy! Sorry, Christmas is the busiest season of the year here. And I have to say this was the busiest and the best of all. For anyone who was on the facility after dark, our grounds were a winter wonderland, weren't they? Thousands of lights. On the trees, across the lawns, lights as snowmen and lights as polar bears. We had Christmas trees everywhere, and painted windows and decorated doors, and we covered just about everything with garland - tastefully as we could.

And the presents! Thanks to donors such as The Yes Virginia Fund - an offshoot of The Pasadena Community Foundation - which donated $1,200 towards toys, we were able to provide new toys for the children of all of our clients. Thus we were able to take away a huge worry from the Moms and Dads in treatment.

And thanks to Costco in Azusa and Alhambra we had shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, and lots of other personal products to throw into bags for our clients as well as new clothes from generous manufacturers in the area.

It was a wonderful Christmas. We had a Santa Party on Christmas Eve when Santa was able to swing by with his gifts for the clients and some of the children of the employees. Then on Christmas Day, when the clients' families came, Santa came all the way back so that he could see the children of the clients, as well.

We work really hard at Christmas. We want people to know how much we care about them and we want them to know how much life has in store for them if they stay clean and begin to live.

California Trucking Association Gives to Impact

2010-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Bob Massmann, beloved old friend, Board Member and donor is picture here giving Jim Stillwell a check for $1,000. This time the check is not from Bob himself, but from the California Trucking Association, an organization of which Bob is a Vice President/Director. We really appreciate the kindness they have shown us not only this year but in years past with their donations. Every dollar helps us bring hope and recovery to those who need it most.

A Profile in Kindness

2009-10-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Jim Stillwell to Be on CNN at 3PM July 15

2009-07-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

July 15th at 3 PM go to CNN to watch Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room (if you don't have access to TV, try cnn.com) for a show about "Doctor Shopping". It will include an interview with our Executive Director Jim Stillwell and an employee Kenny Morrison on the topic related to Michael Jackson's death and his drug and doctor situation. Try watching it.

We're Forty!

2009-07-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

In 1969 our founders got together and decided they wanted to establish a safe place for addicts to get clean. Wait a minute - WE'RE FORTY YEARS OLD!

And in so many ways we fought and beat the odds. Inexperienced, drug addicts, alcoholics, no cash, no systems in place and no programs to imitate. With only the infamous Synanon as a somewhat sinister model of what not to do, our founders began molding what today is still in the forefront of drug and alcohol treatment progams.

Flying by the seat of their pants these men and women put together a small house with a small group of men and women whose only wish was to stay clean and stay out of jail. Bringing with them their experience in Narcotics Anonymous and the spiritual and living principles they found in that program, they began a journey that has lasted forty years.

We have come a long way from the little tract house in the San Fernando Valley that was our beginning. Today we operate a beautiful 130 bed residence on nearly three acres in Pasadena, as well as several transitional living houses, two outpatient facilities, a Los Angeles Drug Court, and two locations within the Los Angeles Sheriff's facilities. We have grown more sophisticated, much more educated, certainly credentialed, but our commitment to provide the highest quality of care remains the same.

A few weeks ago we sent out a request to everyone on our mailing list for a donation of $40 for Forty Years. The response was gratifying. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to send us a birthday check, That would be very cool. You can donate by using paypal or sending to 1680 N. Fair Oaks Ave. Pasadena, CA 91103, or call us and use a credit card. We're easy.

The fact is that Impact always treated me for free. The first time I was here my mother paid for my first month of treatment and I was here for a year. The last time I was here I was a client for four months. Free. There are many men and women like me who fall through the cracks of funding. Not enough money to afford private funding, not falling into any of the profiles of the funding contracts.

That's why we need help.

Family Services Group Has its Own Guru - Jim Weisenberg

2009-06-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

We're awfully lucky here. If we need a specialist, we build our own. And when we needed a specialist in family services, who better than a man that had torn his family apart like their own personal Hurrican Katrina. Since 1994 Jim has been rebuilding his life, mending the painfully broken relationships with his family members, and worming his way deeper and deeper into the life and heart of Impact's Family Services Program. He IS the Impact Family Services Program.

Jim was born in Pasadena, California where he attended La Salle High School and Pasadena Community College, graduating in 1974. He spent six years with the National Guard and was honorably discharged in 1976. He married Patti (a favorite of mine) had three sons, purchased his home in Pasadena and had a career in title insurance and then banking until 1989 when a lifelong problem he had with substance abuse began taking over his life. In 1989 he began what would be a five year cycle of fighting substance abuse and entering treatment programs.

In 1994 he went on his last and most devastating run of drugs. He was on the streets for 26 days (he took off in his wife's brand new car) when he called his father for help. His father and his oldest son picked him up off the streets, took him home, let him take a shower and get some clothes and something to eat and then his son said to him “Leave the house and the family and never come back! You are no longer part of us!” He was homeless and hopeless.

In September of 1994 he entered Impact for treatment and completed the program in March of 1995. Jim elected to remain on staff at Impact rather than pursuing his former banking career because he was motivated to pass on the lesson and the hope of his recovery. Since 1995 he has advanced through the positions of Senior Counselor, Case Manager, Senior Caseworker to his current position of Relapse Prevention Therapist/Family Counselor.

He graduated from Glendale City College as a Specialist in Alcohol and Drug Studies and he is a Gorski Certified Relapse Prevention Therapist. He is a member of The California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors.

Jim has a following here, believe me when I tell you that. I occassionally attend the Family Group meetings. They are a blend of family members who have been attending for as long as fifteen years and have found a great deal of comfort in the recovery of their children or spouses, and family members who might be attending for the first time who still might feel guilt or tremendous anger over the wreckage and ruin of their loved one (barely loved one in many cases).

Jim's combination of personal experience, education and comfortable manner help these people find a measure of acceptance that has been a long time coming. And it helps that Jim's parents are regulars at the group. Example is a powerful teacher.

Larry Crosby Makes Thrifty Ice Cream A Delicious Donor!

2009-05-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

This morning Sylvia and I visited Lawrence M. Crosby (Larry), the General Manager of Thrifty Ice Cream located in El Monte, CA. The purpose of the visit was to take this picture of Larry and to show him a picture of the tile we have mounted on the donor wall expressing our gratitude to him and to everyone at Thrifty Ice Cream (you buy it at Rite Aid now) for their generosity. Don't you all agree that this is still the best ice cream you can eat?

Well, we have been getting ice cream from Thrifty's since I've worked in this department, going back thirteen years, so I asked Larry how long its really been. He doesn't know. It's just been a long, long time. How lucky are we? As many of you know, we rely on donations from our friends and neighbors in the Southern California Community to help us give the best possible treatment to everyone of our clients. And perks like ice cream, not considered a necessity, certainly enhance a client's treatment experience by (of course) increasing the enjoyment quotient of our mealtimes. Everyone loves ice cream - chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookies 'n cream, pistachio, chocolate mint...cold...melty...I think I've said more than I need to about how much ice cream means to all of us!

Anyway, Larry Crosby, we learned today, is a genuinely nice man. He is, like me, old school down to earth California born and bred. He is a "Valley Boy" from the San Fernando Valley, who started working at Thrifty's while he was still in school. It was after he graduated from Brigham Young University that he actually decided to make Thrifty's a career, so he is truly a man who went from scooping ice cream cones to being the General Manager of the company. He says it's been 36 years, possibly a little more. An American story. What I don't get is how he can be the GM of an ice cream company and be so slender. Doesn't compute.

There are some other nice people at Thrifty's that we have worked with over the years; Mercedes, Kathleen, Maria - all of them eager to help, all of them kind. We want to acknowledge them. We are grateful to our angels.

It takes so much help to do what we want to do here and we are very fortunate. It seems that when we put our needs "out there" we get the help we are looking for.

This month we were awarded two grants: The Patron Saints Foundation has given us a grant to purchase new tankless water heaters in several of our buildings and The Pasadena Community Foundation has given us a grant for a new stairway from the parking lot to the meeting room. Thank you everyone.

About Me

2009-05-15T16:38:00.001-07:00

OK, you've been getting these blog announcements from me for several weeks now, and most of you know me, some of you might not, but you are on my e-mail list because we have a relationshop. I am the Director of Development of Impact Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center and my main concern is letting people know what a wonderful job we do at treating men & women for substance abuse problems, hopefully convincing those who need help to consider us, and equally, to convince those who are able, to help us with donations.

I have finally "filled in the blanks" on my profile - there were 36 hits and I hadn't entered any information on it. But I just thought I'd give you this little tidbit here. I'm not your typical Development Director. My "speckled past" is a little out of the ordinary of the good people that I come into contact with when I go out into the world of nonprofit fundraising.

I am not the typical Master's Degree'd cookie cutter professional of proven integrity. I am sure that there are few DD who were tracked by Interpol or arrested by the DEA with 12 pounds of heroin from Thailand, but this is my history.

The other side of this coin is that I have and enormous amount of gratitude, a deep knowledge of the history of Impact, excellent work experience in the corporate arena and some writing talent. So it works for us.

Bob Barrett - 40 Years of Service to Impact

2009-05-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

In 1969 treatment centers that focused on substance abuse did not exist except in the context of hospitalization or hard-core centers that bordered on the abusive such as Synanon in Santa Monica.

Our Founding Director, Robert (Bob) Barrett, (along with co-founder Bill Beck)envisioned residential treatment that focused on introducing the addict to the Twelve Step Programs and behaviour modification that was based on "one addict helping another." To date, his vision has brought the message of hope and recovery to an estimated 30,000 men and women.

I've known Bob since 1973. At that time he was of course serving on the Board of Directors of Impact, was employed by the studios, and leased a house in Los Angeles on Crenshaw Blvd. that housed the phone lines - he also rented the bedrooms to newcomers, I lived in one of them. If my old memory serves me we called it the Crenshaw House. There was a meeting there on Friday nights.

Well, skip ahead forty years. Bob still sits on the Board, attends the monthly Credentialing Meeting, is a Counselor at Large at Impact, and 30,000 men and women have been treated here at Impact Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center, thank you Bob Barrett.

Seeds of Recovery - The Impact Sustainable Garden

2009-05-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

We're very excited about a new project that's happening here at the Fair Oaks Ave facility right now. It's called the Seeds of Recovery Sustainable Garden. And it's
a beautiful and new idea that's just perfect for us.

Becky Prelitz, Impact's nutritionist, approached Jim Stillwell, Impact's Executive Director with the idea earlier this year and suggested that Impact begin to use the fruit of the grapefruit and orange trees on the property and, by the way, why not turn the lawn which are costly and consume far too much water, into a sustainable garden.

Becky introduced us to John Tikotsky a Landscape Architect who designed our garden for Impact and who in turn brought in a cadre of gardening professionals, including Master Gardener Ned Boyer; some came from CalTech, some from the Arboretum, some from the Pasadena school system, who helped plan, build, and plant a rotating garden.

This very exciting addition to Impact's broad spectrum of programs will give clients, men and women who have just come from the streets, from some of life's most harrowing situations, a chance to "land" in a place of serenity. It will give them what very few have ever experienced in their lives, a one on one with the land, and a chance to watch life happen from a seed to a nuturing vegetable.

Although it will not be enough to feed 135 men and women three meals a day 365 days a year, the benefits of this project are clear to everyone. As always, when Impact initiates a program, it is as a pioneer, with tremendous hope for the growth of its clients, and success will be measured not in carrots or cucumbers but in human lives that find, for the first time, meaning and belonging and even joy.

And oh, for those of you who have been through Impact as clients - we can eat the fruit from the grapefruit and orange trees now! Jim did some research to find out why that rule happened and if we could change it. he called the Health Department and they said that as far back as they could remember, the ban on eating the fruit came from the days when the County spray for fruit flies and there was malathione on the fruit trees. But that's not happening anymore and we don't use chemicals here at Impact. So come on over and pick up a piece of fruit.

Write to me. Arlene

April 27th - The James Caan Golf Classic - Our Biggest Event of the Year

2009-04-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ronnie Caan, our Director of Public Relations, and a graduate of Impact, may have produced some mighty fine films in his lifetime, but I argue that his greatest contribution will be the work he has done here at Impact. Since he first arrived at Impact about ten years ago, this amazingly charismatic man has contributed much to our lives both personally and professionally. He has brought us to tears in laughter, he has introduced us to people and ideas we would never in a million years have had without him, and he has been responsible for producing our largest annual fundraiser, the James Caan Golf Classic.

About two years after Ronnie started working at Impact, he and Jim Stillwell, our Executive Director, were talking (they actually never stop) and they came up with the idea of a James Caan Golf tournament. It was a no-brainer idea. All they really had to do was convince Ronnie's brother Jimmy to do it, no biggie. Well, Ronnie asked, and Jimmy (an Impact grad in 1996 and he's doing fab, thank you) said yes, of course. Ronnie tested the waters by asking a few old friends to sponsor, they said yes, of course, and the rest is history.

Always held on the last Monday of April, this year will be our sixth annual. And gratifyingly, and most amazingly, in spite of the economic turmoil of the day, every one of our sponsors of the past years will be returning this year to support us. We are so grateful both for their support and for the good fortune that continues to follow them as well.

This is a good day for everyone. It gives Jimmy and Ronnie a chance to spend time with good friends, Impact the opportunity to tell our supporters who we are, and the clients come with us to help put on a quality tournament, have lots of fun and see what life can be without drugs and alcohol. What could be better that that?

There is an argument against spending money to raise money and I get it. We do our share of pure fund raising here, believe me. But the resultant public relations of this event, the numbers of men and women who subsequently find treatment as the result of someone who hears about Impact through this event, is priceless. I can't argue with that.

Picture: Jimmy Caan, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Ronnie Caan

This is Just the Beginning!

2009-04-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

We have so much to talk about. I've been associated with Impact since 1973, and I've actually been on the payroll since late 1996. As anyone can guess, I have a very deep knowledge of what Impact does, and I have a keen appreciation and gratitude of what Impact has accomplished.

I'm sort of the historian around here. If there were any bodies, I could tell you where they were buried. But what I'm here to talk about is the wonder that is Impact Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center. About the men and women who make it work - -employees, clients, family members and donors. A remarkable collaboration of people bent on ensuring that recovery is possible for the addict who wants it.

I want to tell you about the special projects and programs that make our treatment unique in the world of substance abuse treatment. There is so much to tell you.

Check in with me. I can't wait.