Today is #GivingTuesday, a global movement centered on charitable giving. Noozhawk invites you to explore our Giving Guide to discover meaningful ways to contribute to the betterment of our community.
Engaging in #GivingTuesday extends beyond a mere financial donation; it offers an opportunity to enrich the lives of others and cultivate a spirit of kindness and community. Together, let’s transform this holiday season into a time of abundant generosity, compassion, and positive transformation. Your support has the power to shape a brighter and more hopeful future for those who could use a little help.
Our Good for Santa Barbara Nonprofit Section provides all the resources you need to donate this holiday season!
In this interview Noozhawk spoke with Deborah Whiteley, Marketing & Communications Consultant at CADA to learn more about the nonprofit’s goal to provide community support to those struggling with substance abuse and mental health.
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA)
Question: What is the name and mission of your nonprofit?
Answer: The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) is a highly respected, progressive agency recognized as the premier provider of education, prevention, and treatment of substance abuse and co-occurring mental health conditions affecting children, teens, adults, and their families throughout Santa Barbara County.
Q: How long has your nonprofit been in service, and who are its founders?
A: 74 Years of Client Commitment – In 1949, a small group of Santa Barbara concerned citizens (recovering alcoholics) met with Marty Mann (considered the first woman to achieve long-term sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous) to discuss the rise in community alcoholism. Ms. Mann was deeply committed to the belief that alcoholism is a disease, not a moral failing, and the like-minded Santa Barbara Committee on Alcoholism was formed to educate the public about the issue.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your nonprofit?
A: The success of our clients and their families are our inspiration, each and every day. They include:
The grateful families who participated in the Daniel Bryant Center’s highly effective MultiDimensional Family Therapy to address their child’s substance abuse (CADA is the only nonprofit in Santa Barbara County offering MDFT, regarded nationally as the gold standard for adolescent substance abuse treatment).
The confident at-risk child who looks forward to spending time with their mentor, as together, they explore opportunities for personal growth, self-esteem, academic achievement, and healthy family dynamics.
The healthy newborns whose mothers are now clean, sober, and prepared to raise a thriving family because of services provided by the Perinatal Program.
The men and women working hard every single day to discover their personal paths to a life of sustained clean and sober living.
And the list goes on…
Q: What types of fundraisers and/or programs does your nonprofit run?
A: Youth & Family Programs
The Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Centers (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc) provide safe and effective outpatient treatment and other services for youth (ages 10-21) and their families struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders.
The Youth Diversion Program serves youth ages 10-17 referred to the program by a school administrator or Probation for a violation of the education code or a misdemeanor eligible for diversion in lieu of traditional disciplinary action.
The Mentor Program matches at-risk students in 3rd-8th grades with caring adult volunteers who provide regular positive interaction and support.
Parent Support is a network of services to help parents help their children succeed, including Nurturing Parent Group Classes and a Parenting Hotline.
School-Based Therapy provides therapists on school sites to support students K-12 with behavioral and mental health needs (North County and Carpinteria).
Adult Programs
Adult Residential Treatment Services (ARTS) is a 24-hour, live-in facility for men and women working on recovery from substance abuse. ARTS is licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services.
Project Recovery provides safe, structured, low-cost outpatient treatment services for adults with drug and alcohol dependence issues and related mental health disorders.
The Perinatal Program provides treatment, education, service referrals, and other support for pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders.
Court Referred Programs provide counseling and education for adults referred to the counts for multiple DUI convictions (SB 38 Program).
SAVE Employee Assistance provides free counseling, assessment, referrals, financial consultation, and legal guidance to employees of contracted companies supporting employees through personal and professional challenges.
Q: What makes your nonprofit different from others?
A: Our clients are served in an environment that places the highest value on empathy, understanding and respect. Many of our staff are themselves in recovery, and we have staff in all walks of life and with a variety of personal and professional histories. Everyone is committed to working collaboratively with their peers to ensure the most positive outcomes possible for every client.
Q: What is one best kept secret or fun fact about your nonprofit that not everyone knows?
A: CADA’s Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Center was the first in Santa Barbara County to provide substance abuse treatment for adolescents. Today, we are the only agency countywide to provide organized youth services to these young clients, and we have served more than 9,000 youth and their families since we opened our first Center in 2001.
Q: Can you share one or two stories of individuals whose lives have been changed because of your organization?
A: “Jonathan’s” family brought him to CADA’s Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Center, desperate for help with a teen whose life had badly careened off course, including dealing drugs and personal addiction to fentanyl and alcohol. He was estranged from his family, tangled in the juvenile justice system, expelled from the 10th grade, and hospitalized twice for near death overdoses. He was angry and defiant with everyone. And as is often the case with a struggling teen, he was very scared about where his life was heading.
One year later… after months of intense sessions with a skilled and caring CADA Treatment Counselor – today Jonathan is on his own personal path of recovery. Following therapy and Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT), he graduated from high school, got a job, and remains connected to CADA’s after-care Recovery Services which will be available to him as long as he chooses. He is committed to the long-term lifestyle changes that define his recovery. And he never misses an opportunity to befriend another teen he meets at CADA because he knows first-hand what they are going through.
“Jonathan” could be anyone’s son, brother, family friend, student, nephew, or neighbor. Fentanyl is an equal opportunity, exploding public health emergency in our community. This synthetic opioid is 50-100 times more potent than heroin or morphine, it’s inexpensive, easily obtained, highly addictive, and increasingly deadly. Local children and teens from families of all types – regardless of education, occupation, wealth, or address – are losing their way and their lives at its hand.
Q: How does the work of your nonprofit get communicated to the public?
A: We do not do our work alone. And while we continually look for opportunities to tell the CADA story (like we’re doing now), we are successful because of life-changing partnerships with the people who believe in the work we do. They are the ambassadors who help us deliver the lifesaving, life-changing treatment and services that build healthy families and create a more vibrant community for all to enjoy.
Q: Why should donors trust your organization and are there other ways to help outside of donations?
A: Of the thousands of nonprofit organizations serving Santa Barbara County, only 28 – including CADA – have earned the highest designations from both of the country’s top nonprofit rating groups. Assessments and ratings are focused on each charity’s overall health, including stability, efficiency, and sustainability. CADA has consistently held a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, the largest source of nonprofit data in the nation; and a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, the most utilized evaluator of nonprofits. Visit candid.org and charitynavigator.org to learn more.
Q: Can you tell us one short-term goal AND one long-term goal that your nonprofit has for the next year?
A: On the heels of an unprecedented pandemic, members of our community continue to regroup following the uncertainty of food and shelter, isolation, learning disruption and loss, and employment challenges. As a result, there has been an alarming rise in countywide substance abuse and related mental health issues among youth and adults across Santa Barbara County.
Demand for CADA’s services is at an all-time high, with rapidly growing waitlists for critical treatment, particularly in our Daniel Bryant Center in Santa Maria, and in Adult Residential Treatment Services in Santa Barbara. In the months ahead, we are looking for support to secure new, larger space for both programs, specifically, space that will provide vital additional Counseling Rooms for Daniel Bryant Santa Maria, and a facility that will allow us to increase ARTS capacity to up to 40 beds.
Click here to learn more about CADA’s mission to provide education, prevention, and treatment of substance abuse and co-occurring mental health conditions affecting children, teens, adults, and their families throughout Santa Barbara County.
Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.
If you would like to include your nonprofit in our Good for Santa Barbara section and Giving Guide click HERE.