United Way steps in, aids Step …

Date: 09/28/2004

Edition: Wisconsin
Section: Tri-state
Page: A3
Story type: Current

Photo Caption: Mug - Kim Shird, Diane Thomas

Photo Credit:


United Way steps in, aids Step …
by MARY NEVANS-PEDERSON



Dubuque -- Without the Stepping Stone Halfway House in his life, Joseph is sure he would be in jail or dead. The 41-year-old Dubuque native, a self-admitted alcoholic and drug user for much of his life, has turned his life around with the support and programs offered by Stepping Stone.
Joseph (not his real name) has progressed so well that he was recently hired to manage the day-to-day activities at the halfway house.
"This place is the number one reason I'm where I am today," said Joseph.
His life story is a jumbled mix of drinking and drug binges, failed relationships and work efforts and periodic stays (voluntary and
involuntary) in treatment centers. But for the past two years Joseph has been sober, productive and happier than he has ever been.
"Do I like myself better now? Absolutely," he said.
Stepping Stone is a low-intensity residential treatment facility for those recovering from substance-abuse addiction, said Kim Shird, treatment supervisor of residential services.
The converted 17th Street residence houses up to 12 adults, who come to it from a more intense situation, such as jail, and are working their way back into the larger community. At one time, they might have been hooked on cocaine, heroin, booze or gambling. At Stepping Stone, they attend 12-step meetings and treatment sessions, work or go to school and do household chores.
"Without funding from the United Way, we would have to reduce the number of beds we have available here," said Shird, of Hazel Green, Wis.
Stepping Stone is operated by the Substance Abuse Services Center based in Dubuque's Nesler Centre. The agency serves Dubuque and Delaware counties through programs targeting compulsive gambling and drug and alcohol problems. It also runs a "high-risk youth program," which provides school-based counselors for student drug users or students in families with substance abuse issues.
Diane Thomas, the center's executive director, said the United Way twice picked up where grants left off, saving both the school-based program and the halfway house.
"For five years, we had funding (at Stepping Stone) through an Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy grant. Last year, that ended and we approached United Way. They picked up half of the cost and we made adjustments and cuts to continue the overall program," said Thomas, of Manchester, Iowa.
The center gets most of its funding through the Iowa Department of Public Health, from grants and from contracts to provide services for agencies, such as the Department of Corrections.


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