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Feature News | Monday, December 05, 2016

‘Once you walk through those doors you feel at home’

St. Luke’s Center provides personal approach to substance abuse treatment

Sandra Valdes is program director at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center. St. Luke's offers community-oriented, specialized, and evidence-based addiction recovery treatment services for adults with alcohol and/or drug addiction who may also have a co-occurring mental health diagnosis.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

Sandra Valdes is program director at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center. St. Luke's offers community-oriented, specialized, and evidence-based addiction recovery treatment services for adults with alcohol and/or drug addiction who may also have a co-occurring mental health diagnosis.

The names in this story have been changed to protect the privacy of the clients. 

MIAMI | Last August, Francisco, 41, was referred to Catholic Charities of Miami’s St. Luke’s Center after a period of incarceration. He was sent here for court-ordered substance abuse treatment.

The court required a minimum of about two months, but Francisco, who sat composed on a recent afternoon in the lobby at St. Luke’s, just steps away from a group counseling session, talked about his decision to opt for an even longer stay.

“I was court-ordered, assigned by the court to come here, and the state granted me 90 days but the court-mandated order told me I could leave in 60 days if I wanted to. But I told them no, I wanted to take advantage of what was allowed and I wanted to stay here for the additional 30 days,” the Miami resident told the Florida Catholic.

Located a block away from St. Mary’s Cathedral, St. Luke’s Center is a community-oriented, specialized, and evidence-based addiction recovery treatment program for adults with alcohol and/or drug addiction who may also have a co-occurring mental health diagnosis. Getting ready to celebrate its 60 years in the community, the program provides assessment, outpatient, and short-term residential treatment for 30 or more days.

Lannier Alvarez works the front desk at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

Lannier Alvarez works the front desk at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

A resident-created artwork hangs on a wall at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

A resident-created artwork hangs on a wall at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

A resident-created artwork hangs on a wall at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

A resident-created artwork hangs on a wall at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

Raul Gonzalez, outreach case manager, handles HIV and Hepatitis C testing at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

Raul Gonzalez, outreach case manager, handles HIV and Hepatitis C testing at Miami Catholic Charities' St. Luke's Center.

As the makeup of the residents at St. Luke’s Center has moved from serving mostly persons with alcohol abuse to addictions to even more potent and complex substance like pain medications, crack cocaine, heroin-related substances and even the so-called “bath salt” street drugs found in Miami, the program allows for longer-term treatments.

“It takes time and I believe it is a program that addicts need, but I think if you want it more than you need it, that need goes away slowly, so I am very motivated to be here,” Francisco told the Florida Catholic just weeks before his stay was to conclude.

“I wake up with a smile on my face and I am inspired. It is like having a job: You are either not happy with the job or you are happy with it. I wake up in the morning happy to be here.”

Francisco credits the program’s caring staff of counselors and support staff, but also a strict discipline, as well as what is called in recovery circles as a “life on life’s terms” approach to living. The concept, described in one recovery brochure, is that life is bigger than any one person and vastly more complicated; by trying to control it, we are not taking life on life’s terms, but instead trying to impose our will on it, making life take us on our terms; that often results in blaming others when things don’t turn out as hoped.

But those who follow the rules and want to be in treatment won't have a tough time, noted Francisco.  “It is the structure of the program, the classes, the therapists, primarily. If one counselor is not here there are other counselors available to see you — someone always complementary to the other staff, so you have that harmony,” he said.

Francisco said he plans to return to living in his mother’s house after he’s done at St. Luke’s. Whereas a lot of the residents don’t have families locally, he has enjoyed Sunday family visitation under supervision and with routine security measures to maintain safety for the entire facility.

“We are allowed two-hour visits on Sundays which is a great way to show support,” Francisco said.

“I believe this place is a must. Normally when you come in not on your own accord you have a tendency of backing out and feeling like I don't want to do this,’” he said. “But once you walk through those doors you feel at home. It is a home-away-from-home experience.”

Recently renovated, St. Luke’s is a 30-bed facility for men and women over the age of 18. It us currently set up to accommodate 10 female residents and 20 male residents, with preference given to pregnant injecting drug users, pregnant substance abusers, injecting drug users and others. The treatment curriculum followed at St. Luke’s is the evidence-based Hazelden Living in Balance Program, including the well-regarded AA/NA 12-Step Program.

St. Luke’s Center is currently the only program of its kind within the Archdiocese of Miami, and is highly-regarded by clients and the community for its smaller size and more personal approach to services.

“There are a lot of people who specifically request us,” said Sandra Valdes, St. Luke’s program director. Many “choose to wait as long as it takes to come through our facility.”

At St. Luke’s, residents can access multidimensional psychological services to address mental health side-issues, she noted. In addition, St. Luke’s offers an onsite outreach case manager who handles HIV and Hepatitis C testing for residents.

“We are a smaller program so they definitely have an individualized treatment experience here and don’t get lost in the shuffle, and our focus is AA/NA which has a strong focus on spirituality,” Valdes said.

She added that the typical stay is two months, and, for those who qualify, St. Luke’s is much more affordable than most of the big-name for-profit drug addiction residential programs.

“We have a high success rate for those who complete the program,” she said, explaining that the second month of the stay is mostly for transition: looking for work, looking for housing, and going out in the community to test the waters while having a safe place to come back to. The first month, clients are not able to go out, but simply participate in groups and meeting with their assigned therapists.

During the school year, St. Luke’s Center receives student volunteers from St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, who spend time with the residents on Monday afternoons as part of the seminary’s apostolic ministry program. Its aim is to have the seminarians learn from the clients and be available for support.

The seminarians also organize an annual Recovery Walk for St. Luke’s, to raise funds for clients whose needs may not be covered during their stay.

“We help sponsor the client's’ medications through that fundraiser and until we are able to transition them to community-based services they are able to receive their medications through us. Many of our clients have mental health needs and that is where the medications play a part,” Valdes said. “If they can be stable in regards to their mental health wellness, then they can be stable enough to be clean.”

On Sundays, St. Luke’s Catholic residents also have the option of attending Mass at the nearby cathedral if they wish.

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