Aliso Village Drug Abuse Center Opens

The public part was noisy and fun.

There were speeches, free food, balloons, mariachis and even a modest theatrical production--all designed to draw attention to the programs of the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the opening of a substance-abuse center at the Aliso Village housing project in Boyle Heights.

The private part was quiet and grim.

Two women, speaking softly in the shadowed walkways away from the chattering crowd, told of their addictions to alcohol and drugs--how they had lost their health, their self-respect and eventually their children.

But their stories did not end there.

Finally realizing that they could not solve their problems on their own, both women had turned to Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse for help. Their accounts of what happened after that provided the most poignant evidence Friday of the potential of L.A. CADA’s counseling programs.

“I’d been drinking and using drugs--PCP, heroin, cocaine--since I was 27,” said Bertha, a sturdy, dark-haired 35-year-old. “My life got real bad. Because of what I was using, my babies, there are four of them, were born with drug problems. They took them all away from me.”

“I guess you’d say I was an alcoholic and a drug addict, but what I called myself was a dope fiend,” said 42-year-old Josie, whose arms and face are dotted with crudely drawn tattoos. “I just didn’t care about anything. The court took away my son.”

Both women had been residents of the Ramona Gardens housing project in El Sereno, where L.A. CADA set up its first low-income project, a drug-free center, two years ago. They were on hand Friday for the opening of the new center at Aliso Village--located in a converted apartment--which will provide services similar to those at Ramona Gardens.

In addition to offering help to those suffering from drug- and alcohol-related problems, the county-funded centers offer counseling for families and teen-agers, sex education and information about AIDS and other health problems.

Josie said she went there because she saw a flyer and knew she needed help. Bertha said she went because she was willing to try anything to get her children back.

“I was scared,” Bertha said. “I didn’t know what they were going to do. Well, what they did was they helped me detox, they helped me to become responsible, they helped me to get a job, they helped me to find a home.”

“I met people and I talked to people and I found out I wasn’t the only one like me,” Josie said. “They had classes that helped me understand what it is to be a mother and a parent. Because of them, I’m in the process of getting my kid back.”

Aliso Village Drug Abuse Center