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St. Vincent de Paul to Send 28 San Diego Addicts to Europe for Therapy

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

St. Vincent de Paul has entered into a contract with a European-based group renowned for its drug therapy programs and which has enabled the Catholic charity organization to send 28 San Diego addicts to Europe for treatment.

Father Joe Carroll, president of St. Vincent de Paul, said Wednesday that the local addicts sent to Europe for therapy included “some from the street and some from La Jolla.”

The unusual agreement was disclosed when Carroll said that St. Vincent de Paul was buying the ancient Descanso Hotel to turn it into a drug rehabilitation center modeled after a successful European program. According to Carroll, escrow on the $380,000 hotel is scheduled to close today.

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St. Vincent de Paul will purchase the property and enter into a special partnership with La Patriarche, a nonprofit company that has 200 drug rehabilitation centers throughout the world, including Mexicali and Tijuana. The Descanso center will be the company’s first in the United States.

“By entering into a partnership with them, it gives us access to 200 locations. That’s why we brought them in,” said Carroll.

“I’m not in the business of sending homeless people to Europe,” he said, but added that sending someone away for treatment is sometimes the best alternative.

“If a person has too many friends who come to visit him, treating him locally is not always the best solution. In this case, you’re better off being 5,000 miles away. The program is geared to individual people,” Carroll said.

He added that St. Vincent de Paul has been working with La Patriarche for the last six months. Before the 28 local addicts were sent to Europe, the company had only treated two American addicts, Carroll said.

Under the agreement reached with La Patriarche, St. Vincent de Paul will pay for the hotel property. Eventually, the property will be turned over to the European company, which has agreed to compensate St. Vincent de Paul, Carroll said.

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“It’s a nebulous partnership. We’re assuming responsibility for the property, program and getting the permit from the county. . . . The check (to purchase the hotel) comes out of my office. They will ultimately be paying us back and we will be turning it over to them. But right now it will be the St. Vincent de Paul/La Patriarche Building,” Carroll said.

He said he still has to obtain the permits from the county and other agencies before the center can open. The first clients will be accepted in about four months.

Initial plans call for a staff of 10 to work with 10 clients, Carroll said.

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