Substance abuse treatment center receives funding

Seventy-eight additional men will be able to enter substance-abuse treatment through Phoenix Programs thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health.

The grant will also be used to pay for a full-time Missouri certified substance abuse counselor, a residential aide, client medication and training for residential staff members at the Missouri Department of Mental Health Spring Institute, according to a news release from Phoenix Programs.

With the extra money, Phoenix Programs will be able to serve 400 men per year, including the additional 78 in 2006 and 2007. Most of the program’s clients have continuing mental illness problems on top of their substance addictions.

The grant to Phoenix Programs is one of 45 two-year basic support grants distributed by the Missouri Foundation for Health to offset administrative costs associated with the hiring of new or additional staff.

“We want to help (Phoenix Programs) increase their program awareness in the community,” said foundation spokeswoman Bev Pfeifer-Harms.

“The main reason this grant is so important to the Phoenix Programs is how it will help more people, provide a stronger continuum of care and help people who otherwise would be left out of other programs,” said Deborah Beste, executive director for Phoenix Programs Inc.

Phoenix Programs offers both outpatient services and residential services for only men and serves the insured, under-insured and uninsured. The grant will be specifically used for the residential program because of the decreasing in-house substance abuse programs in Missouri. Beste said the grant is also important because of recent state budget cuts for public health programs.