First off, I am not a graduate of Habilitat, nor do I work for the program. I'm not an addict, and have never been an addict.
I'm just a regular Windward resident that has seen too many people's lives thrown into chaos by addiction. Parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, neighbors-- you name it: I think everyone's life has been touched, in some way, by addiction.
Many have seen their loved ones go from one treatment facility to another, only to fail, time and time again. Those programs are simply not long enough and not comprehensive enough to truly change the thought processes and underlying psychological issues that led the individual to turn to drugs in the first place. Face it: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days-- is not going to change a lifetime of self destructive behaviors and negative emotional triggers. And those short-term programs haven't cut it, for so many people. Hundreds and thousands of people get out of a short-term residential programs every year, only to fall right back into addiction again. They go back to the same neighborhood, with the same bad attitude, the same self-destructive tendencies, the same friends, and before you know it-- they are back on drugs.
The only way to help an addict become a clean, sober individual, is to give them a new neighborhood and new friends, and to help them cultivate a healthy positive outlook on life, a sense of community, and a means of earning a respectable living, so the individual is effectively armed with the right tools to pursue life as a productive and responsible community member. That is EXACTLY what Habilitat does. By the time a person finishes the program, they have been LIVING a clean, healthy, structured, responsible life for 3 years. It has become second nature. There is no guess work-- no question about what they need to do to stay sober, where they will live, and how they will earn a living. They come out of the program fully prepared for an independent life. They have a focus and a goal, and a huge network of people that are there to help them succeed in life. People that want them to succeed. People that have walked the same path and know what it's like to break free of addiction. Plus, they have learned new healing modalities and shed a lot of the emotion baggage that has constrained their development in the past. Let's be honest here-- an addict would hard pressed to BS a group of former addicts. Only an addict truly knows and understands what addiction is like, the games an addict plays, and all the justifications for their behavior and the choices they make. So Habilitat does have former addicts that have been through the program, working for the program. That's one of their strengths. These former addicts serve as proof that the program works, and completely understand what the person is going through. They are coach, role model, therapist, sympathetic ear, reality checker, and butt-kicker - all in one.
If you want to really know what Habilitat is like, what it is all about--just talk to the people that have been through the program, or the family and friends of people that have completed the program. We all stand behind Habilitat and in awe of all that it has accomplished over its many decades in operation. We are grateful for all it has done, all it IS doing, and all it WILL do. It is a wonderful and amazing program with a proven track record. Habilitat has endured the test of time, and will certainly be around for many more years.
Over the last 30 years, I have come to know quite a few folks that have been through Habilitat and completely turned their life around. You might be surprised if you knew how far they have come. From engineers to special education teachers, chefs and realtors, even massage therapists, medical assistants and dental hygienists - they are all around us, living responsible, sober lives. read more