After struggling with bipolar disorder and alcohol addiction most of her adult life, Nannette Bennett hit bottom when she lost all her legal rights and was conserved in a mental hospital.
And then she found the support of Family Service Agency of Marin and other community organizations. Today Nannette and has been sober for three years, thanks, in large part, to her experience at FSA's PACE program.
PACE stands for Promise-Acceptance-Choice-Empowerment, and uses an innovative harm reduction model. Clients living with mental illness and addiction learn to reduce their harmful behaviors and, instead, develop tools for building healthier lives.
Within weeks of joining PACE, Nannette's mother died. "I was a mess," she says. "I went into a terrible manic episode but the people in my PACE group were really there for me. They grounded me." Nannette is not the only one who has benefitted from PACE's support. "Our group members have been able to stay sober, regain custody of their children, hold down full-time jobs, and remain out of jail," she says.
Nannette is now a PACE graduate. She continues to be helped by her therapist and a psychiatrist, who has successfully reduced her number of medications from 12 down to three. She is also proud to give back to the community. "I am a phone counselor on our county's Warm Line," she says. "I feel lucky to be able to provide a kind voice to those in need."
We've changed the name of FSA's highly respected recovery program (formerly Substance Abuse Recovery) to Services for Addiction Recovery (SAR) to reflect expanded services, which include treatment for drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse, as well as eating disorders, gambling, and other addictions. Last year alone, SAR helped more than 500 individuals and families impacted by substance abuse.
In addition, FSA is very pleased to officially announce the new leadership of Carlos Molina, Ed.D., MFT, and Eloise Rivera, MFT, as SAR Program Co-Directors, taking over upon the retirement of Susan Leonard, MFT. We look forward to hosting a community event in early 2009 to celebrate these changes.
