Bridge House/Grace House celebrates 60 years
11th September 2017 · 0 Comments
By Michael Patrick Welch
Contributing Writer
Michael Barlow, head of public relations at an addiction and recovery center in Metairie, has a trustable face.
“I am sort of the face of the company,” says Barlow of his day job. “I do consultations, I guide interventions. I meet with judges, doctors, future patients and their parents.” Barlow previously worked at Bridge House recovery treatment center, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
“I worked the front desk at Bridge House, greeted people when they came in, helped check people in. When you walked into Bridge House you saw my face, first,” Barlow said.
Prior to that, Barlow found himself homeless in Chicago in the coldest part of winter. Then he found Bridge House. “My life was a mess,” Barlow admits. “And I did my recovery through Bridge House.”
From opioids to alcohol, New Orleans has its drug problems, especially in the city’s many poverty-burdened communities. Barlow was one of many Black New Orleanians greatly affected by the issue. “I did not know I was a sick person, I thought I was a bad person,” he says in a video testimonial he recorded for Bridge House.
“I’ve never done heroin, I’ve never shot up. It was mainly alcohol for me,” Barlow explained to The Louisiana Weekly. “I could avoid anything else and be fine, but I needed alcohol. And it was getting to the point where something bad was going to happen.”
In Bridge House’s 11-month program, Barlow says he, “Attended group counseling with my peers and other people who were in the same boat. We all learned, first, what addiction looks like, then what it affects, and who it affects. I then moved into high-level care: incorporating life skills, understanding what it means to live sober. Bridge House helped me prepare myself to leave and become a functioning member of society. You learn what it takes to be accountable – and you also learn to be disappointed, so that when you get out, you have learned to navigate a lot of these issues [that] make you want to get loaded. Bridge House is a really good learning environment – it taught me how to live.”
In May of 2011, Barlow took his very last drink. Five years removed from Bridge House he says the organization still plays a vital role in his recovery.
“I work with other alum who return to help those still in Bridge House,” says Barlow, who works in the field and talks to families about treatment. “That’s one way the organization continues helping in my recovery, by giving me a way to help those who are still suffering.”
In 2016, Bridge House and Grace House accepted 822 individuals into treatment primarily from the Greater New Orleans area: 427 men and 395 women, 59-percent of whom were homeless at the time. Of those, 18 percent of the clients were African-American, and 79 percent were white. Bridge House reports that these individuals entering treatment had been arrested an average of 6.9 times, and had previously participated in treatment an average of three times.
The Bridge House program is 12-step based, and it is not a shelter.
“We’ve always been licensed, and it’s a treatment center. Our long term treatment is what sets us apart,” attests Else Pedersen, Bridge Houses’ CEO since 2011. “Our treatment program has evolved into a strong clinically-based best practices style program.”
Twenty-five years ago, Pedersen herself entered Bridge House for alcoholism treatment.
“I’ve had this job since 2011, but I have been with the organization since July of 1992, when I was working in thrift stores as part of my treatment,” she says. “I fell in love with the idea of serving an underserved population. I personally would have had a hard time getting my treatment anywhere else, and that’s the type of person Bridge House is here for. And I wanted to work toward the greater good of the community.”
Today Pedersen is in charge of everything from the day-to-day operations of the organization, its 154 residential beds, and its three sites for clinical services.
Pedersen says much has changed at Bridge House just during her time there. “The ease of getting in has increased tremendously,” she says. “When I came in 25 years ago, I had to wait weeks to get a bed. The beds for women were limited to 15 beds – whereas now we have 70 beds for women.”
In 2006, the all-male Bridge House program merged with the all-female Grace House program.
“We run the only gender-specific programs in the area,” says Pedersen. “We currently have 84 men and 70 women.”
Bridge House’s famous location with its huge car lot left Camp Street, last year; the new main thrift store as well as the men’s treatment center moved to Earhart. The two other locations, both Grace House, are on Delachaise and on Camp Street.
“Nowadays, if somebody comes to us for treatment and they are an appropriate fit for us – battling addiction but with no income – we are going to admit them. The ability to pay is not the ticket through the door. No one will be turned away for lack of resources,” said Pedersen.
The 60th anniversary of Bridge House and Grace House coincide with September’s National Recovery Month. On September 16, Bridge House and Grace House will celebrate this milestone with the first annual March for Recovery. Open registration for the march starts at 10 a.m. Former news anchor Norman Robinson will serve as emcee for a brief program of addiction survivors and other inspirational speakers. At 11 a.m., those who have conquered addiction will march with their loved ones around Palmer Park. The event will also feature free food, drinks and live music after the ceremony.
For more information on Bridge House/Grace House or the March for Recovery, visit www.bridgehouse.org.
This article originally published in the September 11, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
