On January 9, 2007, many of the local television stations aired the documentary “Crystal Darkness”. This documentary was produced by Global Studio and aired in partnership with Secret Witness, Meth Community Response Alliance, Join Together Northern Nevada, the Washoe County School District and Partnership Carson City. This important documentary was targeted at our community’s youth in an attempt to prevent future methamphetamine use. The secondary affect of this event was to develop community awareness to the epidemic of this devastating drug. To these ends, the mission of this event was fulfilled in spades.

The State of Nevada and many of the programs funded by the State’s Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse have experienced significant reductions in funding for its prevention and treatment programs. In 1999 for instance, substance abuse treatment funding for the State of Nevada was 3.7 million dollars. While the need in our state has increased over the past 7 years treatment funding has not. In fact funding has fallen to 3.1 million dollars for the entire state for 2006.

Because of this crisis in our community and a great need for our services at Ridge House we have been working diligently on alternate funding sources. In 2007 we will be doing much more community based fundraising than we have done over the past few years. The beginning of this kickoff was our print newsletter and we graciously thank everyone for their response and donations. We will certainly keep you informed as more events happen.

Ridge House also has some exciting partnerships forming in the coming months that appear to be set to dramatically help our funding streams. We know how vital our services are to the community and we are working with other agencies to gain the community treatment focus we need to make sure that these services continue to be available for our clients.

Finally, I would like to welcome everyone to 2007. This is an exciting year for the Ridge House as we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary. You will definitely be informed of our plans for commemorating this milestone as they happen. Again thank you all for your continued support and with your help we will continue to be the premier agency focused on substance abuse treatment and re-entry in our community for many more years to come.

Sincerely,

Steven Burt
Assistant Director

The Ridge House was pleased to participate in the roadblock presentation of “Crystal Darkness” that aired on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 7:30pm across most local stations. Ridge House provided trained licensed and certified counselors to answer calls at the designated call center Tuesday evening during and after the airing of the program. The Ridge House also created additional availability for assessments and intakes for new clients following the airing of the program and had counselors working late into the evening at Ridge House taking phone calls from referrals from the show.

“Over the last few days we have seen in increase in our call volume and have had people inquiring about services for themselves and for family members,” said Steven Burt, Assistant Director of the Ridge House. “We are ready to provide treatment for methamphetamine addiction in our outpatient department and engage these clients now to start them on the path to recovery.”

The Ridge House program specializes in working with former criminal justice offenders with substance abuse problems and is open to any client seeking services. The Ridge House not only operates five residential and two transitional facilities but also has the capacity to serve many more clients in its outpatient treatment program. All Ridge House services are on a sliding fee scale in order to keep them affordable for all income levels.

“We would like to encourage anybody who watched the program Tuesday evening and has any interest in getting help to contact us.” Burt said. “We want people to know that we have the availability to help, and encourage people to take the first step in making the phone call.”

Anyone interested in seeking services at the Ridge House can call directly at (775) 322-8941. To learn more information about The Ridge House visit www.ridgehouse.org.

“The Ridge House gives individuals the opportunity to lift themselves from what they may feel like is the pit of despair and restore their life to what it once was before they started using.” said Lynda Harper, Clinical Director of The Ridge House “If you allow yourself to be helped by another caring human being you can be restored, there is hope.”

Ridge House supporters include U.S. Senator John Ensign, Nevada State Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie and First Lady Dawn Gibbons.

“The Ridge House has given many individuals the opportunity to transform into productive members of our community ,” Ensign said. “This program has helped individuals who would usually be a burden or threat to our community and instead, made them into responsible members of society.”

During the week of the airing of "Crystal Darkness" The Ridge House participated in five seperate television news interviews and was the guest on Steve Diamond's morning radio show that aired on four stations Sunday, January 14th.

"The Ridge House is gaining local media attention as one of the premier agencies adressing the methamphetamine problem in the Truckee Meadows." said Brandon Jared, Marketing Director for The Ridge House.

Television news coverage included appearances on KOLO CH 8, KREN CH 27 and KNVV CH 41 Univision in Spanish. Radio coverage was aired on KDOT, KOZZ, ESPN Radio and Cub Country.

"We are happy to be able to assist the community in understanding the methamphetamine problem that is striking our community in a profound way," said Steven Burt, Ridge House Assistant Director.
"Anything we can do to raise awareness is a great opportunity not only for The Ridge House but for the treatment community as a whole."