Pubdate: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 Source: State, The (SC) Copyright: 2002 The State Contact: http://www.thestate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) RALEIGH PLAN A MODEL TO AID HOMELESS On any given day in Columbia, homeless men with substance-abuse problems end up in emergency rooms to receive expensive medical care they can't pay for. Those same homeless men often cause problems for downtown businesses and safety concerns for downtown residents, say business and government officials. But a group of area civic and business leaders says an innovative program in Raleigh, N.C., can help Columbia's growing number of homeless men dealing with substance abuse. The Healing Place of Wake County is a recovery and rehabilitation program that works. The program has a 70 percent success ratemore than two-thirds of people who graduate from the program are clean and sober and off the streets after one year. The business and civic leaders who saw The Healing Place in April on an intercity visit with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce would like to see it replicated locally. "That was the singular most impressive solution to a problem that I have ever seen," said Dale Boozer, chairman of Boozer Lumber Co. "It was a total solution They had the right attitude, they had the right staff, the right facility, the right program and they had the right results. I don't know how you could ever top that as a community solution." The results are so impressive that a return visit to The Healing Place is being organized to include all the members of Columbia City Council, representatives of the Oliver Gospel Mission and the Salvation Army, which both serve the homeless in Columbia, as well as others involved in alcohol and drug abuse services. A 2001 study by the Midlands Commission on the Homeless found an estimated 4,500 homeless people in the Columbia area, not all men. Counting homeless people is difficult, since homelessness is often temporary, and the number of homeless men has been estimated at a few hundred in Columbia proper. Most shelters will not take in a person who is intoxicated. Frequently, the only alternative is the hospital emergency room. Because most of them are indigent, they wind up with costly medical care at hospital expense. The emergency rooms at Palmetto Richland and Palmetto Baptist often are where homeless substance abusers wind up. It costs a minimum of $371 daily to treat an alcohol dependent person in the emergency room of Palmetto Baptist or Palmetto Richland hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Judy Cotchett Smith. The Healing Place figures its cost at $25 per day. City officials have been concerned for some time about the homeless problem, especially downtown. City Council will hold a public hearing June 12 "convening the beginnings of some continual dialogue on what we are going to do in the area of the homeless," said city manager Leona Plaugh. Council members are interested in The Healing Place because it offers a solution that includes dealing with problem, not just offering a place to dry out. Among the top causes of homelessness are alcohol and drug addiction. One of the commission's recommendations was the establishment of a "sobering center" for inebriates who aren't accepted at other shelters and often end up in emergency rooms. The Healing Place, which is based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model, takes the sobering center concept to another level. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex