Shared from the 11/25/2018 San Antonio Express eEdition

Clients of Alpha Home receive another chance at life

Nonprofit provides women drug, alcohol rehab in pair of homes

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Photos by Kin Man Hui / Staff photographer

Nangie Lowrie, chief operating officer of Alpha Home, is also a former client of the nonprofit. “We don’t look at the past; we just keep going forward,” she said.

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Clients and volunteers gathered in 2016 at Alpha Home for its 50th anniversary. At any time, there could be as many as 47 women in Alpha Home’s residential treatment program, which can last up to 70 days.

The backgrounds of the three women are similar: Curious about alcohol, they began drinking at an early age; soon were doing drugs, got into scrapes with the law and hit rock bottom several times.

Two of the women lost their children, one of them permanently.

In their 30s now, the women have one more thing in common, this one something positive: They all received treatment at Alpha Home, a residential and outpatient drug and alcohol rehab center, that they say turned their lives around.

“Alpha Home is a place where women and men get another chance at life,” CEO Angela White said. “The opportunity to be the mom, dad, brother and/or sister they always wanted to be. Alpha Home provides the tools that allow people to learn to live a life in long-term recovery.”

Founded in 1966 with the support of Trinity Baptist Church by a woman who struggled with her own alcoholism, Alpha Home now provides women 18 and older residential drug rehab and alcohol rehab treatment in two homes north of downtown.

One is on East Mulberry, with beds for 31 women. The other, on Camden, has accommodations for 16 clients.

Both houses also have kitchen and dining facilities as well as outdoor play areas for children visiting their mothers while they undergo treatment.

At any time, there could be as many as 47 women in the residential treatment program, which can last up to 70 days.

The Ruble Center at East Magnolia and Carleton Court houses administrative offices and rooms for 12-step meetings and GED and art classes.

There is also the Dr. Richard P. Usatine Wellness Center, where the physician, on the faculty of UT Health San Antonio, as well as medical students and volunteer doctors provide services to Alpha Home clients.

Women — and since 2013 men — also receive outpatient treatment.

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit’s residential, outpatient and intervention programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. The residential and outpatient programs are licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

White said Alpha Home helps those who are uninsured and cannot afford private treatment.

“One in 3 individuals who want to receive drug and alcohol treatment can’t afford it,” she said. “This is where Alpha Home fills the void in the San Antonio community. Our collaborations with other agencies provide a continuum of care and support that rebuild a life devastated by addiction.”

According to Alpha Home officials, many of the women treated there are mothers with at least two children. More than 10 percent identify themselves as homeless.

The average age of women undergoing treatment at Alpha Home is between 23 and 34, said Nangie Lowrie, chief operating officer.

A high percentage of the women and some of the men have “a connection to the criminal justice system,” Lowrie said.

Alpha Home works closely with local courts, including adult drug court and felony drug court, that deal with people facing alcohol- and drug-related charges, Lowrie said.

Once in the residential treatment program, clients learn how to incorporate recovery skills into everyday life, become more self-sufficient, manage anger, improve parenting skills, stay sober, and look for and keep a job. They also receive counseling.

In the outpatient treatment program, which can take four to six months, treatment includes trauma counseling, anger management, relapse support, and domestic violence, parenting and family education.

Alpha Home also provides a Family First program, a pregnant and postpartum intervention outreach program, along with a recovery support home in collaboration with Crosspoint Inc.

The best proponents of Alpha Home are the women who have already gone through treatment, some of them several times.

“It saved my life and showed me that recovery is real,” said Lindsea Classen, who was 11 when she pilfered a bottle of white wine from her parents’ refrigerator and drank it by herself.

She was still in middle school when she began drinking shots of liquor before leaving for class.

“I never got caught, but from the beginning, I was a hard-core drinker,” she said.

At 12, she began smoking marijuana, and she later used large amounts of cocaine and other substances.

Classen first entered Alpha Home in 2005, left and returned in 2006 and 2007. She relapsed in 2008, during which she was in “active addiction,” she said.

In treatment on seven different occasions, including four stints at Alpha Home, Classen said she has been sober since March 2015.

“It’s all thanks to Alpha Home,” the mother of two said. “I always felt that walking through those doors, I would be respected and loved. It’s been really huge for me.”

Now 35, Classen began college this fall. Her goal is to become a substance abuse counselor.

Her younger sister Sarah Classen was 12 when she began drinking.

“I drank Purple Passion in little bottles,” she said. “I liked it a lot because a sense of ease and comfort came over me.”

By her midteens, Sarah Classen, who obtained a GED after dropping out of school, was into drugs.

Sarah Classen was 19 when she married. But a month later, she left her husband and came out as gay.

In 2012, she began treatment at Alpha Home but relapsed after three months of sobriety.

“The second time I entered Alpha Home, I was much more desperate to get help,” she said. “I was very sick spiritually and emotionally.”

Describing herself as once “a very angry woman,” Sarah Classen said she has learned how to deal with her anger.

“I carry myself with dignity now,” she said.

Sarah Classen said she stopped using drugs and drinking alcohol in June 2016.

Now 32, she has a job she loves, and she and her partner have been together three years.

Melissa Vasquez, 38, is divorced and the mother of three. Drinking led to Child Protective Services taking away her children.

“When I completed the 70-day treatment program and got my kids back, I said, ‘I can drink again,’ ” Vasquez recalled.

Several DWI charges led to her children being taken away permanently in 2011.

While she is in contact with her teenage son, Vasquez said she has not seen her two daughters in 10 years.

“They’re doing well, they were adopted by a family that loves them, so I know they are well taken care of,” she said.

Vasquez said she no longer is the “alcoholic I was.” The strongest drink for her now is Dr. Pepper.

The three women are active in the Alpha Home Alumnae Association. Members are former clients who volunteer their time to help women in recovery.

Members meet every week and hold a reunion once a year. They host a series of events for women in treatment.

“We encourage everybody to be empowered,” said Lowrie, the chief operating officer, who is also a former client and has been sober for 21 years. “We don’t look at the past; we just keep going forward.”

''It saved my life and showed me that recovery is real.”
Lindsea Classen, recipient of treatment at Alpha Home

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