Celebrating the opening of the new Santa Maria home for one of the county’s three Daniel Bryant Youth and Family Centers, Robert “Bob” Bryant said he hoped no other parent feels the pain of losing a child to substance abuse.

The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to show off the new home for the Daniel Bryant Youth and Family Center in Santa Maria. 

The center is named for Danny Bryant, who died of a drug overdose 30 years ago this month.

“I’ve said there’s nothing more painful than losing a child,” Bob Bryant said.

Catherine Remak, former development director for CADA, recalled Bob Bryant contacting the organization after his son’s death.

“Bob Bryant has always been an inspiration from the day 25 years ago that he walked into CADA and said, ‘I want to build something that if my son Danny was alive, he would have a chance,’” Remak said. 

“And I know that Bob is, as well as all of our staff and counselors here, are just so sold on this idea of getting kids at a young age, making a difference when they’re teens so that they can become healthy adults and part of this beautiful community,” Remak said.

Through the years, the centers, which include others in Santa Barbara and Lompoc, have helped roughly 10,000 youths and families.

CADA Executive Director Victoria Rightmire had just started the job when board members revealed plans to relocate to a new building. 

“I was in my first month and I said, ‘Yeah. Sure. Why not? I had no idea what that would entail,” she said, noting the team responsible for making CADA’s new Santa Maria home a reality. 

She also thanked the Hutton-Parker Foundation for allowing CADA to move in along with tenants Community Partners in Caring and Corzón del Pueblo.

The Santa Maria center sits inside the Art Deco building at the corner of Jones and McClelland streets. Built in 1938, the distinctive building has a curbed front of glass with bricks and has been designated among Santa Maria’s Objects of Historical Merit. 

“Not only is this a historical moment, but this is a historic building,” Mayor Alice Patino said of the former Coca-Cola building repurposed more than two decades ago to house nonprofit organizations. 

Previously, red letters identified it as Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Santa Maria. In recent years, the red letters spelled out Community Cornerstone Center for Nonprofits after being acquired by the Hutton-Parker Foundation two decades ago.

The mayor also recognized Bob Bryant and Richard “Dick” Berti, noting “unwavering generosity, commitment and contributions to CADA’s mission which will have a deep and lasting effect on all of our youth and all of Santa Maria.”

A long-time Bryant family friend and a key backer of the centers, Berti recalled Danny Bryant as “a beautiful person, a loving person, a dependable person but addicted. 

“He worked for me, and everybody loved him,” Berti said. “One day he didn’t come, and that night he died because of addictions. It was a terrible waste. He was a beautiful person.”

The ceremony included law enforcement officers, with Undersheriff Craig Bonner noting the collaboration with CADA when it comes to the public safety and services for youths. 

“Richard truly is a champion of our Santa Barbara County youth, and we’re just so incredibly thankful as a public safety profession for everything you’re doing for our children in Santa Barbara County,” Bonner said. 

Berti shared a poignant purpose behind his support of various programs for youths. 

“I believe tomorrow is only as good as the young people we have today so anything we can do for young people will pay back tomorrow,” Berti said. 

CADA expects the expanded space to provide enhanced services to youths and families in the Santa Maria Valley.

The Daniel Bryant Youth and Family Center provides critical prevention, education and treatment services to youth and their families dealing with substance abuse and mental health challenges.

The Santa Maria location at 120 E. Jones St. joins other Daniel Bryant Youth and Family Centers in Santa Barbara at 1111 Garden St. and in Lompoc at 106 South C St., Suite A.

For more information on CADA programs, go to www.cadasb.org.