www.odysseyhouseinc.

org

Saving lives, rebuilding families, restoring communities Winter 2004

New Center of Excellence emphasizes

Odyssey House services
family treatment
New center offers family-
focused substance abuse
services for parents with
young children
preschoolers; and women-led House in New York City, for
trauma and parenting skills example, suffer from depres-
workshops. sion and other mental health

Founded in 1967, Building on its more than 30

Odyssey House is an
Enhanced Therapeutic
Community (TC) provid-
ing innovative services
and programs for a broad
population of drug-trou-
bled individuals and fam-
ilies, including:

Mothers & children

Pregnant women

Adolescents

Elders (55 years and
older)

Mentally ill chemical
abusers (MICA)

Single adults

Court mandated clients

Homeless adults
Odyssey House runs the
largest and oldest parent
and child residential TC
program in the country
and the only residential
TC program for senior
citizens.
Inside this issue:
VIP visitors share concern
for kids, page 2
Caring for our community,
page 2
Adult residents achieve ed-
ucational goals, page 3
... At the movies, page 4
Fundraising efforts help
residents enjoy the
world of books, page 5
years of experience treating
women with substance abuse
problems and their children,
Odyssey House recently
opened a residential Family
Center of Excellence dedicat-
ed to improving treatment
services for families.
In addition to offering in-
dividual and group counsel-
ing, social mentoring, work
opportunities and medical
care, enhanced services avail-
able at the Center of
Women, in particular disorders, as well as the trau-
Excellence include the follow-
mothers of young children, matic effects of abusive rela-
ing special benefits: fully-
often enter substance abuse tionships. Their prospects are
equipped family suites where
treatment with a complex further clouded by a lack of
women with children are
range of secondary problems education and work skills,
grouped together according to
that can undermine their and by child custody issues.
each family’s individual needs;
chances for a successful recov- By bringing these entire
on-site pediatricians and pedi-
ery. Many of the female resi- services together under one
atric nurses; licensed daycare
dents in treatment at Odyssey
facilities for infants and Continued on page 3
Odyssey House opens new art gallery
In keeping with its treatment at the Odyssey
history of innova- Behavioral Health Care
tion, Odyssey House Residence. The title of the
recently opened an show “i” reflects the struggle
art gallery to show- for self-identity and self-
case the creative esteem many residents experi-
abilities of men and ence as they attempt to rebuild
women in treatment their lives and cope with
for substance abuse mental illness, substance
and mental illness. abuse, and homelessness.
The inaugural Odyssey House president,
exhibit features the Dr. Peter Provet, said the in-
Odyssey House resident, Charles Meadows, paintings of mentally spiration for the show grew
exhibits his work at new gallery. ill men and women in Continued on page 4
Page 2 Odyssey House news

VIP visitors share concern for kids

More than 100 children live
with their mothers in one of
Odyssey House’s treatment or
housing facilities. Some of
these children have lived with
us since they were born and
others accompanied their
moms into treatment as
barely-walking toddlers.
They are the pride and joy
of Odyssey House, and their
happiness and well-being is at
the heart of our treatment pro-
grams.
“Changing the Several influential drug
treatment, prevention, and
public’s perception mental health advocates re-
of drug addiction cently visited Odyssey House
to lend their support for our
as an untreatable
social problem is
one of Odyssey
House’s goals.”
Commissioner Gorman gets to
know Odyssey House preschooler.
programs: Dr. William
Gorman, Commissioner of the
New York State Office of
Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse Services (OASAS), First
Lady of Idaho, Mrs. Patricia
Kempthorne, and Dr. Lloyd
Sederer, Executive Deputy
Commissioner, New York
City Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene.
Their presence sends a
strong message to residents
Mrs. Kempthorne enjoys her visit
that they are not alone, that to East Harlem Family Center.
other people care about their
struggles to change their lives, that are difficult to change and
and that even the youngest very far from the truth.
residents benefit from a warm Visitors to Odyssey
embrace and job-well done House’s nursery or preschool
handshake. classrooms quickly discover
Changing the public’s per- that contrary to popular opin-
ception of drug addiction as ion, babies born to mothers
an untreatable social problem who abused drugs have just as
much chance of growing up to
is one of Odyssey House’s
goals. Portraying drug abusers be healthy, happy children as
and their children as individu- any other child who is raised
als unable to prosper in socie- in a loving, nurturing environ-
ty creates negative expectations ment.

Caring for our community

At Odyssey House, Throughout the year residents man informa-
being involved and tion booths at neighborhood street health fairs,
helping each other organize clean-up crews to help spruce up local
is a treatment parks and community gardens, participate in
mantra. Men and sports activities, and attend drug awareness
women engaged in events in schools, churches, and community
changing their lives centers.
are encouraged to
reach out and sup-
port one another as
they embrace the
treatment maxim
“you can’t keep it
Odyssey House president, unless you give it
Peter Provet, helps raise away.”
awareness of East Harlem’s
skyrocketing childhood
Giving back to
asthma rates with New York the community is
City Councilman Philip part of this philoso-
Reed, organizer of Asthma phy and enthusias-
Awareness March. tically supported by
residents. For people whose former lifestyles
isolated them from family and neighbors, Residents from the Odyssey House Manor Facility
having the opportunity in treatment to help provide New York City Marathon runners with
water and lots of encouragement.
others both feels good, and does good.
Winter 2004
Family Center of Excellence opens
Continued from page 1
roof, Odyssey House has been
successful in attracting and
retaining women in long-
term residential treatment.
Currently, approximately 40
percent of the people receiving
residential services at Odyssey
House are women and chil-
dren, the majority of whom
are women in treatment with
their young children, or moth-
ers actively seeking custody of
their children.
The goal of the treatment
process is self-sufficiency. In
In support of families – opening day crowd helps launch new pro-
gram for parents and childen.
Support Odyssey House at:
www.odysseyhouseinc.org
Adult residents achieve educational goals
Residents from
Odyssey House adult
programs celebrate
another milestone
on the road to recov-
ery – graduating
from high school.
On-site classes help
residents catch up
on lost schooling
and earn a diploma
while in treatment.
Odyssey House voca-
tional services coun-
selors supervise
classes with support
of teachers from the
New York City Board
of Education.
Page 3
addition to a full program of
substance abuse treatment
and family therapy, residents
participate in educational and
vocational counseling, job-
training programs and
healthy-living seminars.
Families completing treatment
also receive help in obtaining
affordable housing and sup-
port in securing childcare
services.
Promoting excellence in
treatment requires maintain-
ing rigorous quality control Mr. Harvey Newman, Assistant
measures and sharing valuable Commissioner, New York City
Administration for Children’s
Services, applauds ‘child-
friendly’ initiative.
research-based data with
other providers. Family
Center of Excellence pro-
grams are continually evaluat-
ed for efficacy and consistency
in the delivery of services, and
procedures are in place to “Promoting excel-
ensure strict compliance with
lence in treatment
“best practice” guidelines.
requires maintaining
rigorous quality
control measures”
Page 4 Odyssey House news

... At the movies

Adolescents at the Odyssey House Leadership
Center were treated to a private screening of
“Downtown: A Street Tale,” a new movie that fol-
lows the fortunes and misfortunes of kids living on
the streets of New York City. Actors from the movie
– several scenes of which were shot at the Center –
attended the screening and took part in a discus-
sion about teenage drug abuse.

Seen here with some of the teens are: Mr. Joey

Dedio (kneeling) who wrote and directed the
movie, Ms. Mihaela Tudorof (in hat), Ms. Domenica
Cameron Scorsese (center), and Mr. Jeremy Alan
Richards (back row in hat). The movie is scheduled
for general release later this summer.

Paintings promote hope and recovery

“The impact of these
Odyssey House resident, Sondra Kendall, with her self portrait.
original paintings Continued from page 1
helped transform out of the work the residents
created in art classes at the 60-
Odyssey House’s new
bed facility. “Many of the men
supportive housing and women in our MICA pro-
complex in Harlem gram suffer from severe
mental illnesses ranging from
into a welcoming and schizophrenia to manic de-
uplifting place to live pression. Most have spent
years cycling between psychi-
and visit and provid-
atric hospitals and homeless
ed the inspiration for shelters, and many have been
the gallery.” arrested because of drug use.”
Once seen as a fringe or
discretionary program, art
therapy is now embraced as a
valuable treatment tool that
helps clients express emotions,
nurtures self-esteem and confi-
dence, and provides a creative
outlet clients can access when
they leave treatment.
Odyssey House plans to
expand the art program across
its treatment populations to
include single adults, mothers
with children, adolescents,
“Urban Nights” donated to Odyssey House by Mr. Danny Simmons.
and seniors, and to show their
work at upcoming exhibitions
in the new gallery.
As well as providing a
forum for residents’ art, the
new gallery will also show the
work of established New York
artists such as Mr. Danny
Simmons and Ms. Caren
Raphael, who generously do-
nated several vibrant and
compelling paintings for per-
manent display in the Haven
Gallery.
“The impact of these origi-
nal paintings,” added Dr.
Provet, “helped transform
Odyssey House’s new sup-
portive housing complex in
Harlem into a welcoming and
uplifting place to live and visit
and provided the inspiration
for the gallery.”
Winter 2004
Odyssey Foundation: Investing in People
Odyssey House prides itself
on being in the forefront of de-
veloping services that enhance
the treatment experiences of
men, women, and children in
our programs. Creating and
augmenting existing services,
however, requires an invest-
ment in research and program
development.
Many of the innovative
program enhancements we
have introduced were made
possible through the support
of private foundations and in-
dividuals such as the
Rosenback Foundation,
Elizabeth & Barets O.
Benjamin Charitable Found-
ation, and UPS Foundation.
Their contributions to the
Odyssey Foundation have
helped develop enhanced
treatment for seniors, chil-
dren’s services, and recre-
ational programs for
adolescents.
Library and literacy services
Encouraging the young
children who live at an
Odyssey House Family Center
to develop a love of books and
reading is the easy part; keep-
ing up with the demand and
providing an accessible place
for them to enjoy books is
more challenging. In an effort
to meet this challenge,
Odyssey House is developing
an onsite children’s library in a
renovated preschool class-
room at the Odyssey House
Family Center in East Harlem.
The new library is de-
signed to encourage children
and parents to read together
in a calm and stimulating en-
vironment. To date, the li-
brary has received generous
book donations from numer-
ous organizations and individ-
uals, including Scholastic,
Inc., Barnes and Noble,
Odyssey House Board
Members, and agency staff.
To date, more than 3,000
books have been donated.
Ms. Sandra C. Wilson, director of New York Community Affairs for
Verizon, awards Odyssey House with a workplace skills development
grant. Ms. Wilson is flanked by Odyssey House staff members Ms.
Erika Smith and Mr. William McNeill.
Page 5
Promoting literacy and en-
joyment in reading is not lim-
ited to the children’s services.
All groups of residents, from
adolescents to seniors in our
ElderCare program, are en-
couraged to read and write as
much as possible, and
Odyssey House vocational
services use a mixture of gov-
ernment and private funds to
run a range of classes from
volunteer-supported literacy
workshops to English as a “All residents,
Second Language programs.
from adolescents
Workforce development to seniors in our
Helping men and women ElderCare program,
in recovery develop mar-
ketable skills and find a job is are encouraged
a key treatment goal for all to read and write
Odyssey House residents.
as much
Vocational counselors guide
residents through enrollment as possible.”
in educational and job train-
ing courses that build on their
existing skills and provide the
best career opportunities.
Verizon Foundation recently
awarded Odyssey House
$40,000 to develop client
workforce initiatives, includ-
ing basic computer literacy
skills and vocational and dis-
ability programs.
Page 6 Odyssey House news

95 Pine Street
New York, NY 10005
www.odysseyhouseinc.org
Tel: 212-361-1600

MISSION Odyssey House Leadership

It is the mission of
Odyssey House to:

P rovide comprehen-
sive and innovative
services to the broadest
range of metro New
York’s population who
abuse drugs, abuse alco-
hol, have mental illness;

P rovide high quality,

holistic treatment
impacting all major life
spheres: psychological,
physical, social, family,
educational, and spiri-
tual;

S upport personal re-

habilitation, renewal,
and family restoration.
Board of Trustees of Odyssey House (H)
and Odyssey Foundation (F)
Throughout its activi- George Rosenfeld (H/F) Hugh M. Jones (H/F)
Board Chairman
ties, Odyssey House un- Robert K. McMillan (H/F)
dertakes to act as a C. Lamar Stockman (H/F) Treasurer
responsible employer Vice Chairman (H) Dana Meltzer (H/F)
and member of the Neil Brawley (H/F) Robert J. Mitchell, M.D. (H)
community and to Maria Brizzi (H) Craig Montalbano (H/F)
manage the assets of the John R. Dugan, Jr., Esq. (H)
organization in a pro- John Murdock, Esq. (H/F)
Richard Fogarty (H/F) Secretary
fessional manner.
Stephen C. Gross (H/F) Richard C. O’Connor (H/F)
Marianne T. Guschwan, M.D. (H) Vice Chairman (F)

Deborah M. Hurley (F) Eve Stuart (H/F)