As a leader of re-entry services in Northern Nevada, the staff and supporters of The Ridge House have always been advocates for treatment over prison incarceration for Nevadans who have been caught in the vicious cycle of addiction. Along with other treatment providers and treatment advocates in Northern Nevada we are excited to report that we have been seeing gains in this legislative session.

The time seems to be right for people to hear that the current system of putting our fellow Nevadans in prison isn’t working. With the methamphetamine epidemic making news almost nightly, public awareness is at an all time high.

While we have finally made people aware of the methamphetamine epidemic in Nevada we have yet to convince them that treatment is a better solution than prison, and frankly a better value to the taxpayer.

Some national studies show this value as high as a 700% savings. For every dollar spent on treatment, seven dollars is saved in criminal justice costs. One striking statistic to illustrate this point is that, in 2005 Ridge House clients returned to prison at a rate of 8%. This compared to the state’s published recidivism rate of 26% for 2005, (available at The Nevada Department of Corrections website) makes the value of treatment programming easy to see.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 70-85% of state inmates have substance abuse problems serious enough to warrant treatment. While statistics like these abound, the need to build more prisons is still a loud call for our legislators. Governor Gibbon’s proposed budget calls for an additional 337 new positions and an additional 40.6 million to fund increased inmate driven costs due to the projected growth of the prison population.

The Ridge House is optimistic about the increased funding proposed for drug treatment, prevention and education. We think that the answer for Nevada's ever increasing prison population lies in the fact that treatment rather than incarceration saves the taxpayer money and puts fewer offenders with non-violent records behind bars.

I am happy to report that Monday February 26th was an exciting day for The Ridge House. Senator Bill Raggio's bill draft supporting The Ridge House providing expanded services to our incarcerated population was successful in the Senate Finance Committee hearing. We optimistically await the bill hitting the senate floor for further debate and a vote.

Also keep an eye out for a furniture auction Ridge House will be running in the next few weeks. We will be sending out the items and instructions for bidding by email and will also post all the information on our website.

Finally, thank you for supporting treatment and for supporting hope in our community, our clients and in the Ridge House.

Sincerely,

Steven Burt
Assistant Director

Diane Brokaw has a special connection to Womens House 2. That's because for her the cycle has come full circle, and the home which she entered as a client years ago has become the home that she welcomes new clients to as the residential counselor.

"Were real structured as any home would be," said Diane. "Without that structure they just flop."

Diane is not alone in her efforts at Women's 2. Christina Davis, House Manager lives with the clients 24 hours a day and runs the daily routine of the house.

"Christina and I really work as a team," Diane said. "We work together to provide the best care for our clients that we can."

Christina also understands the importance of the family style atmosphere Diane seeks to foster at the house.

"I tell them the day they walk in the the door, welcome home." Christina said, "I put the emphasis on getting along as a family, if they start complaining about another resident we point out the positive things about that person."

Diane cites the structure as being the key to the successes they see at Women's 2. This structure Diane says allows the women to complete the program with self confidence, self esteem, motivation and the tools they need to remain abstinent.

"There is so much they have gained when they walk out of here," Diane said. "They have the confidence they need to know that they don't have to go back to their previous life."

The services offered within steps of The Ridge House are growing and we are pleased to welcome two new offerings at 900 W. First.

The first new service is the Unity Center at the basement level of the building. The Unity Center hosts daily Gambler's Anonymous meetings, sometimes occuring as often as three times daily. This is a great resource for Ridge House clients and others in the community and we are excited they are in our building. A meeting schedule can be found at the Gamblers Anonymous website.

The second new offering comes in the form of a community partnership between Nevada AIDS Foundation and La Bussola called HEART SPOT.

NAF’s HEART SPOT offers Health Education, Access to Resources, Therapy, Support, Programs & Services, Opportunities & Training to persons living with HIV. It is a unique community partnership, with La Bussola providing the business product & training, which affords clients support groups, job training, art therapy, work experience, social network opportunities, case management, information & referral, and day support.