The Gateway Center

Hey everyone,

We recently visited with Jennifer at the Gateway Center of Helen Ross McNabb. I didn't know exactly what they did out there before this visit. I mean I had heard of the Gateway Center and knew it was there and it used to be the Werner Center. But they’re treating alcohol and drug dependent adolescents 13 – 18 years old boys. Number one, it kinda' stops you in your tracks to learn there are 13 year old boys that are dependent on alcohol and drugs. It makes you stand back, and you realize how shocking it is.

At the Gateway Center they’re helping these kids break that dependency and get back into citizenship with a new attitude and the ability to cope. As Jennifer was telling us, they empower them with different coping abilities to be able to handle the problems that they have that have pushed them into the drug or alcohol abuse. You know you hear them talk about the root causes of the problems in our community, and some of it is family attitudes. Jennifer said that some of them come from a family where they sit around and smoke pot together. I mean, that’s just astonishing. When you really sit down and think about it, it breaks your heart that a kid is in a situation where they see their parents turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with life. You know that kid is going to grow up and think that’s the right thing to do when life gets 'em down.

From a United Way standpoint, we try to break that cycle and then that child, when he becomes a father, he’s not doing that to his kid and ultimately finally breaks it. Parents need to be dealt with accordingly, obviously through the legal system if that sort of stuff is going on, but the kids need to be taught how to cope with life on their own.

One thing they're doing out there is trying to teach the kids life skills, too. They have to wash their clothes, keep their rooms clean, and the center works on an award system. If you do something right, you get special privileges. If you don't do what your supposed to, those privileges are taken away.

I have to commend Jennifer and her staff over there for giving these kids a chance. They wouldn't have the chance to succeed without these programs that can intervene.

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett