By Margie M. Palmer
Mission Valley resident Jeanne McAlister is not your average 84 year old.
Not only is she the CEO of the McAlister Institute, which is among the county’s largest drug and alcohol treatment providers, she still leads it with lots of energy and wearing heels.
A recovering alcoholic herself, the 60-years-sober spitfire has used her experience to build an agency that is founded upon empathy and hope.
“It’s no one’s fault that they get addicted. No one wakes up and says they want to become an alcoholic or drug addict,” McAlister said. “For some people, once you take the drug, or a drink, it takes you. That’s what happened to me. I started drinking at 15 or 16 years old, which is what a lot of kids did at that time. Not all of them became alcoholics but I did; it was a very quick descension for me.”
It wasn’t until she was in her 20s, when she was dating a man who was in recovery, that she managed to turn her life around.
“He was in AA and he took me to my first meeting without my knowing where I was going,” she said. “He could see all the signs. Going to that meeting was like an awakening where I was able to hear a lot of people speak who thought like I thought and who had experiences like I had. I made a commitment to the program and I’ve never looked back.”
It also inspired her to try to pay it forward; a short time later she began working for a psychiatrist that provided drug and alcohol recovery services.
“He felt that people who had their own personal experience [with recovery] allowed patients to identify. He hired me and trained me and I worked for him for about five years in a clinical setting.”
Several years later, she branched off to found the McAlister Institute and today, what started out as a three-program treatment program, has grown by exponential proportions.
The nonprofit currently offers 28 programs and its 200 employees oversee approximately 2,500 individuals each month in San Diego and Napa County, she said.
The McAlister Institute is also the first organization in San Diego County and among the first five in the nation to develop a residential program that allows women to live with their children in a safe, instructive and supportive environment while they receive treatment.
“We had realized there were a number of women who needed treatment who were not coming in because they were worried about what would happen to their children or because they were afraid they would lose their children. Others had lost their children and wanted them back and they were trying to figure out how to do that,” she said. “Our Kiva Learning Center for Women and Children allows children to live with their mothers while they are in treatment. The women learn about nutrition, parenting and how to handle their money. We treat the whole woman.”
Her message to those who may have a friend or family member who is struggling with addiction is simple.
“I would tell them to provide loving confrontation and to give them a resource. Give them my phone number. I’m happy to do that,” she said. “People call me all the time about getting someone into a program and usually I can help them do that. We’ve saved a couple of people’s lives by answering the phone at 6 a.m. on a Sunday. There are resources out there and if I can’t do it, I’ll make sure they get help.”
For more information on the McAlister Institute, call 619-442-0277 or visit mcalisterinc.org.
—Margie M. Palmer is a freelance writer who has been racking up bylines for over a decade. Reach her at [email protected].
