BMORENEWS.com

ccc

(BALTIMORE- February 3, 2009) -Considering that the City of Baltimore has an estimated 60,000 addicts, it is high time – no pun intended – to consider what other municipalities have done to combat the effects of drugs on their population.

In the City of Portland, for instance, a program has emerged that is considered a world-class model of rehabilitation. It is called Central City Concern (CCC). And while the naysayers will have their angle,  CCC is changing lives … for the better.

CCC Executive Director Ed Blackburn will be our guest on the radio today.

He will discuss CCC, and how it is making a major impact … for the better … in Portland, and beyond.

About Central City Concern

CCC’s programmatic approach facilitates personal change across four transformational dimensions:

- Housing that is supportive of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction

Positive peer relationships fostered through involvement in a community of people in recovery

- Attainment of legitimate income, through meaningful employment or accessing available benefits

- Transformation of world view and self image from a negative to a positive outlook, enabling people to become productive citizens who want to “give something back” to the community

Central City Concern (CCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency serving single adults and families in the Portland metro area who are impacted by homelessness, poverty and addictions. Founded in 1979, the agency has developed a comprehensive continuum of affordable housing options integrated with direct social services including healthcare, recovery and employment. CCC currently has a staff of 460, an annual operating budget of $33 million and serves an estimated 15,000 individuals annually.

History

In the early 1970s Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood was populated largely by older men living in shabby, crime-ridden single room occupancy (SRO) buildings. The rent was cheap, the drug of choice was alcohol and Portland’s street inebriate problem was one of the worst in the nation.  In 1979, in response to this growing problem, the City of Portland and Multnomah County together created the Burnside Consortium (now known as Central City Concern) to administer a National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) Public Inebriate grant.

CCC’s initial work involved alcohol recovery treatment as well as affordable housing management and rehabilitation.  Early on, it was clear to CCC leaders that safe housing was of paramount importance to those in recovery and to the neighborhood at large.  CCC’s work in rennovating urban, SRO housing became a standard for other nonprofit housing organizations and attracted national attention.

In the 1980s, “recovery” extended to those addicted to crack cocaine and heroin and CCC adapted its programs. Its portfolio of affordable housing units increased and it began offering alcohol and drug free housing to support those in recovery as well as their families.  To further support clients’ transformations to full self-sufficiency, CCC added employment training and work opportunity program in the early 1990s.

Tags: substance abuse