A WELCOME HAVEN

Perhaps nothing causes more anguish for a woman who needs to enter a drug
or alcohol recovery program than being forced to give up her children in
order to qualify.

There's a real irony -- not to mention real pain -- in the fact that to get
clean and sober, she must surrender what most likely is her sole reason for
wanting to stay clean and sober. That is, unless she is fortunate enough to
find her way to Santa Barbara's Oliver House.

The house, which opened last March, is a project of Casa Serena, a recovery
center that has been helping local women for the past 40 years. A substance
abuser who manages to remain drug-free and sober for 90 days at Casa Serena
- -- without her children -- can be considered a candidate for Oliver House,
which welcomes children along with their recovering moms.

Oliver House is the only recovery home on the South Coast that allows women
to keep their children while they rebuild their lives. It is, we think, an
idea worth replicating.

Take Linda Johnston. A 30-year-old heroin addict with an 11-year-old son,
she found herself sitting in a jail cell, six months pregnant, having been
booted out of a recovery program for relapsing on pills. That was after a
former spouse attacked her, breaking her kneecap and crushing several discs
in her back. Her son had called 911 to report his dad was killing his mom.
Since then, the state had taken the boy away, declaring his mother unfit to
care for him.

"I was tired, I was in jail, I was scared to death they would take my son
forever, and my new baby," Johnston said. "I discovered that my children
were the most important thing."

Today, Johnston is clean and sober and caring for her 10-week-old daughter
at Oliver House. Back surgery has helped ease the chronic pain she suffered
as a result of her ex-husband's assault. And her son is not only making
regular visits, he is preparing to move back in with her.

When a woman begins the program at Casa Serena, she is not required to
relinquish custody rights to her children. Instead, during the first 90
days of her recovery, specially trained and licensed host families --
provided by Noah's Anchorage, a shelter for runaways -- care for her children.

Once she has completed her 90 days at Casa Serena and has been accepted at
Oliver House, the woman can be reunited with her children. And then the
hard work really begins.

Parenting is a key component of the program, and Oliver House works closely
with other non-profit agencies to ensure that clients like Johnston can
tend to their children while staying sober.

"Maternal alcoholism is devastating on a child, and we are helping women
get and stay sober, and to be good parents," explains Casa Serena executive
director Marina Ross.

Clients also are required to participate in 12-step programs, have jobs or
work as volunteers and contribute some portion of the rent. They have
access to counseling and help with legal, employment, education, child
custody and medical care issues.

"These women have to learn how to manage jobs, get their children to day
care, stay sober, and be a mom," points out Nicole Miller, a parenting
counselor with Project First Steps. "It's a lot of responsibility, and
what's great about Oliver House is that they get to share this with other
sober women."

A capital campaign is currently underway to raise $1 million to pay off the
mortgage at Oliver House and to secure funding for operations. About
$700,000 has been raised so far. We can't think of a cause more deserving
of community support.