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By Tom Britton
Director of Swain Recovery Center
Black Mountain
Advocacy,
information, referral, education, training
In April this year a group of concerned
citizens, consumers, and professionals in the Asheville area
began forming an advocacy group called the Mountain Council on
Alcohol and Drug Dependency (MCADD). The mission of the council
is to provide advocacy, information and referral, education, and
training both to chemically dependent individuals struggling to
access recovery services and to support the provider agencies.
MCADD is made up of professionals in the field including: recent
retiree Paul Le Schack, who previously ran the employee
assistance program of The New York Stock Exchange; Ann Vance,
director of the Pavilion International Treatment Center; Norm
Huffman, owner of Evince Clinical Assessments Center for Alcohol
& Addiction Studies; Laurie Tollman, clinical director of First
Incorporated in Ridgecrest; Milton Burrill, therapist; Bobby
Graneri, owner of MC Communications, and others representing the
substance abuse field and local and state government.
Addresses the
decrease in NC services and treatment
An effect of mental health reform in North
Carolina has been a marked decrease in services and treatment
availability for substance abusers. The decrease in services is
being felt in jails, homeless shelters, and 12-step programs of
our area. Historically, agencies have met in community forums to
keep up to date on what services were available and how services
could be advocated with the goal and result of improving access
and appropriate treatment for the consumer. With the removal of
local mental health programs there has been no unifying body to
continue communication and interagency collaboration. This new
group, MCADD, focused on consumer service, will facilitate the
return of true collaborative community based treatment.
Planning began in
April 2006
In April 2006, MCADD held its first
strategic planning retreat, and agreed on a vision as an agency
that will advocate increased access of services by individuals
suffering from addiction. Results of the retreat include a plan
designed to guide all segments of the MCADD organization so that
MCADD is – and is viewed as – a seamless entity, promoting hope
and recovery for people who live with chemical dependence. MCADD
meets monthly to review the direction, strengths, challenges and
ultimate goals of the organization and the movement it embodies.
Strategic planning
group develops outline
The MCADD Planning Committee has employed
an inclusive and interactive planning process aimed at community
change. This Committee appointed the Strategic Planning Group (SPG)
to articulate the organization’s mission and vision, and to
propose MCADD’s strategic course by means of a Strategic Plan
Draft. The group worked in a consensus decision-making model,
drawing from larger group and community needs to draft a
realizable plan of action with the stated timeline of being
fully operational within a year.
Points from the
Strategic Plan Draft showing action steps and goals
How MCADD will accomplish its mission:
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Coordination of activities of state and
local advocacy groups
-
Serving as an information collection
and dissemination center
-
Collaborating with existing counseling
services, staff, and programming for adequacy and
accountability, influencing their pre-professional and
continuing education
-
Fostering public education
-
Pressing for quality institutional and
non-institutional care and individualized treatment of
persons with alcohol and drug dependence
-
Promotion of community support
programs, including appropriate living arrangements linked
with supportive social, vocational rehabilitation and
employment programs
-
Communication and advocacy with members
of the community as well as state, local, and federal
governments to obtain funding to support providers that
promote the mission of MCADD
-
Developing a board of directors that
involves diverse populations in all activities and
leadership roles, ensuring membership and leadership
representation across the life span and from Asheville’s
broad cultural and life experiences spectrum
MCADD Goals:
GOAL #1: Identify and recruit board members with the political,
financial, and philosophical resources to empower the agency to
fully meet its goal to serve the consumer and the community.
GOAL #2: Secure the funding necessary to meet the objectives and
mission of MCADD.
GOAL #3: Recruit the qualified and creative staff to fulfill our
mission and establish a physical location for the agency that
will be accessible to the community of consumers and providers.
GOAL #4: Ensure that people living with and recovering from
alcohol and drug dependence have access to and benefit from
evidence-based and emerging science-based practices in
substantially improved treatment providers that embrace family
and consumer support and education.
GOAL #5: Empower families and consumers through customized,
state-of the-art support and education.
GOAL #6: Ensure that MCADD’s membership and leadership draw
strength from all communities.
GOAL #7: Forge collaborative efforts with new and influential
partners who will provide support and funding in achieving
MCADD’s strategic goals and mission.
GOAL #8: Advocate for a culture in which community leaders and
the public increasingly support early identification and
treatment, crisis intervention and acute care, comprehensive
community treatment and supports, and the hope of recovery for
all people living with addiction.
The incorporating members of MCADD look forward to the growth in
membership and attendance necessary to implement this plan.
MCADD continues to need increased participation and
representation from the larger community. Please continue
joining the council--call Tom Britton at the Swain Recovery
Center 1-828-669-4161, or email
tbritton@drugfreenc.org
The Next
Step
Editor: Bebe
Somerville
Designer: Virginia Hart
Partnership for a Drug-Free
NC
665 W. Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
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