Founded in 1957, The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse is a nonprofit organization that has transformed from doing outpatient treatment only to offering a variety of classes, educational programs, and resources to the Coastal Bend community. Its services seek to treat alcohol and substance abuse, but also aim at preventative measures by teaming up with school districts to teach awareness and life skills to children and teens. The organization’s goals are to preclude the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by young people, and to foster the development of social and physical environments that promote healthy and drug-free lifestyles.
“The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse organization should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind,” says community relations specialist Maria Perez, “because even though we may not know it, we all know someone who suffers from addiction.”
This thriving non-profit has really focused on helping the community by offering educational programs, coaching, classes, and sober activities that will benefit adults, youth, parents, and pregnant mothers.
The Pregnancy and Postpartum Intervention Services department focuses on educating parents and assisting at-risk children. They offer services such as prenatal health classes, infant parenting classes, postpartum support services, anger management classes, and car seat safety.
The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse also offers treatment including different forms of counseling and case management, as well as recovery services with supportive outpatient programs.
It also hosts yearly events open to the community to join, including “Safe and Sober,” held every December, and the “Addicted 2Recovery 5k” held in September during National Recovery Month. Unfortunately, the fourth annual 5k has been canceled due to COVID-19 – a true heart-breaker for the organization as the 5k is used to help support recovery services, at-risk youth, and sober activities – but they are already planning for next year’s event.
