{"id":224621,"date":"2017-10-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/filling-a-need\/"},"modified":"2017-10-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T07:00:00","slug":"filling-a-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/filling-a-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Filling a need"},"content":{"rendered":"

Substance abuse treatment center opens in La Mesa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Jeff Clemetson | Editor<\/p>\n

David Leisch wants people who suffer from addiction to know that there is hope at a new treatment center in La Mesa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone bottled up a magic potion to restore hope, then we wouldn\u2019t be needed here,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in fact, one of the driving factors of why we are here is because many people think that their hope is found in a bottle. We\u2019re here to educate and train the brain to think otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Filling<\/a>
(l to r) The Bridges staff: case manager Ky Washington, CEO Sherry Roberts, program director Dr. James Profit, case manager Jenni Profit and president David Liesch (Foto por Jeff Clemetson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leisch is president of Bridges of San Diego, a structured intensive outpatient treatment program located in the Crossroads Church, 8809 La Mesa Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made it our mission to open a treatment center right here in La Mesa because we found that East County typically does not have enough resources to service the need in this category,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Civic leaders and law enforcement officers echoed the need for drug and alcohol treatment in La Mesa at the treatment center\u2019s grand opening on Sept. 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a schoolteacher, I work with 1,100 families and everyone has different stories and everyone has different challenges in families \u2026 so I\u2019m always looking for resources,\u201d Mayor Mark Arapostathis said. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged because this center is opening and it will be another resource that I can guide people to.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Mesa Chief of Police Walt Vasquez described The Bridges as \u201cextremely important for the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s times as law enforcement that we recognize that incarceration is not the answer. There\u2019s time when it is, honestly, but there\u2019s time when it\u2019s not,\u201d Vasquez said. \u201cI\u2019d rather these dedicated professionals, if they could help and deal with those individuals before they become a law enforcement problem, then we can deal with other issues that are occurring in our society that we are needed for.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego County Assistant Sheriff Mike Barnett gave a rundown on the kinds of drug problems in the East County area. So far this year, there have been over 1,400 drug arrests \u2014 mostly methamphetamine, which he described as the biggest problem. There have also been 19 drug overdose deaths this year and many more near-death overdoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why the work that all the dedicated professionals do at places like The Bridges is so important because drug abuse can be treated and fixed,\u201d Barnett said.<\/p>\n

The Bridges program director Dr. James Profit shared startling figures on alcoholism: 15.1 million people suffer from alcohol addiction \u2014 many of whom also abuse drugs; 63,000 men and 23,000 women die from alcohol use each year; and according to a 2010 report, drug and alcohol abuse costs the country an estimated $250 billion a year. He also shared another interesting statistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve researched this area,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s \u2026 a total of 32 places, just on La Mesa Boulevard, selling alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bridges CEO and founder Sherry Roberts said the basic goal of the new La Mesa facility is to provide education and prevention measures for individuals and families suffering from the effects of substance abuse. The clientele will be a mix of individuals checking in for self-identified substance abuse problems and some court ordered. There will be a mix of day and evening classes and several payment options are available, including some insurance, cash and credit, and even some financing will be offered.<\/p>\n

The Bridges is Roberts\u2019 first outpatient facility. Previously, she had only operated sober-living homes in the San Diego area \u2014 a venture she may also start in La Mesa.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny homes we open would be housing for people who are coming from another area and need a place to stay while they are in our program,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For more information about The Bridges, visit thebridgesofsandiego.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

- Comun\u00edquese con Jeff Clemetson en jeff@sdcnn.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Substance abuse treatment center opens in La Mesa By Jeff Clemetson |\u00a0Editor David Leisch wants people who suffer from addiction to know that there is hope at a new treatment center in La Mesa. \u201cIf someone bottled up a magic potion to restore hope, then we wouldn\u2019t be needed here,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in fact, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":224622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Filling a need","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}