ANAHEIM : Homeless Get Help in Quitting Drinking

Tim Shaw, a program director for Street People in Need, says he can tell just by body language which participants at a meeting want to quit drinking, which are going through the motions and which came for the free food.

But there are always exceptions, like Terri, 36, who meandered in about an hour late. At first, she appeared interested only in a brown bag meal, yet it soon became apparent that she had come for help.

“I’m tired. I’m almost 37 years old, and I’m just tired of being out here,” said the tough-looking, street-wise woman, whose piercing blue eyes filled with tears as she rubbed the backs of her needle-scarred hands.

Terri was one of about a dozen homeless people who sat under a tree in the evening sun last Wednesday and listened to recovered drinkers tell them about an Alcoholics Anonymous program in Anaheim sponsored by Street People in Need, or SPIN.

So far, 60 homeless alcoholics have entered counseling, and 45, who have recovered, are now living on their own again. The current program meets every Wednesday evening.

One of the participants is Mike, 49, a strong, upright man with ebony skin. In a little over a week, he will celebrate his first year of sobriety, which began with an outdoor AA meeting across from the Santa Ana Police Department.

“None of you have to live like this unless you want to,” Mike said. “I heard what these guys had to say and realized it was better than what I had.”

As they sat around the grassy park-like area in the setting sun, some with their life’s belongings, they fidgeted and listened and made their choices. For those like Terri, the group put them on a long route of recovery, enlisting the expertise of detoxification centers and recovery homes.

First, the person is sent immediately to a detox facility, where he or she will stay for about a week to clear any drugs or alcohol out of the body. Then, that person goes to a recovery home, where SPIN pays for the client’s care for a month while he or she stays sober and begins looking for work.

“It’s so hard for the homeless” to enter for-profit recovery facilities because they cannot afford it, said Shaw. “With substance abuse, unless they get that taken care of, their life isn’t going to change.”

SPIN began as a food distribution service at the Santa Ana Civic Center, where the homeless congregate. Eventually, group members and SPIN’s founder, Newport Beach advertising executive Samuel W.H. Boyce, decided that combatting addiction was an important step in helping the homeless get off the street.

Wednesday’s turnout was better than expected. Though the group distributed about 100 flyers to people on the street, members said they expected only a small group of people to show up.

But while the turnout was strong, only a few people said they wanted help. Many of the street people said they had heard about Alcoholics Anonymous before and were not interested in the program.

Brenda, 28, drunk and pregnant, said she didn’t have a drinking problem, but went to the meeting because her boyfriend wanted to. The man, who would not give his name, said he would try to sober up on his own before joining a program.

The meeting ended with most participants taking a second sack lunch and an announcement of another meeting next Wednesday. Terri got a promise from the group that it would try to get her into a detox facility by the weekend, but she hoped it could be sooner, knowing too well what a night on the streets meant.

“I’ll be honest about it,” she said. “When I leave here, I’m going to go get a bottle.”