WALKING FOR A LOST SON

HUNT - With a walking stick in hand and his heart flush with resolve, Aaron
Pena Jr. left Thursday on a deeply private pilgrimage that also holds
public policy implications.

The Edinburg attorney, who is unopposed for the District 40 state
representative's seat in next month's election, is walking to Austin to
highlight the need for better mental health and substance abuse programs
across Texas.

"It really is a personal quest, as well as a public one," Pena, 43, said of
the 125-mile, six-day trek. "It's like an act of prayer."

He'd given those issues little thought before his 16-year-old son, John,
died in 2001 after snorting a mix of cocaine and heroin.

After John died, Pena, a successful employment lawyer who was recovering
from a stroke suffered the previous year, soon found himself nearly unable
to function and reexamining his own priorities.

"If it wasn't for my faith and my children and friends, I would have been
there in the grave with him," he recalled. "I'm going to will myself back
to being a productive person by doing good."

Pena joined support groups and anti-drug organizations and, through the fog
of depression, came to realize that few treatment centers were available to
Valley residents.

"Our political leaders and our population in general do not value these
sort of services," Pena said. "The reality is that it touches everybody's
life every day, in higher taxes to pay for jails and policemen."

His new awareness spawned a commitment to tackle the issue and, ultimately,
a successful campaign for the District 40 seat vacated by Rep. Juan Hinojosa.

Advocacy groups for the mentally ill and drug dependent say they are
thrilled to have a legislative ally to make their case.

"We desperately need that kind of focus in the Legislature," said Melanie
Gantt of the Mental Health Association of Texas, a nonprofit advocacy
group. "We rank 43rd of all states in per-capita funding for services to
people with mental illnesses."

Currently, the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse has treatment
sites in 90 counties offering services for free or at reduced costs. Its
$175 million budget for this year is expected to fund intervention for
about 173,000 youths and 195,000 adults.

Even so, "There aren't enough funds to meet all of the need out there,"
said Kirk Bates, a spokesman for the agency.

Pena has pledged to donate his legislator's salary of $7,200 to the Palmer
Drug Abuse Program in McAllen, a free clinic where he is on the board of
directors.

"There's no question that we need more residential treatment centers in the
Valley," said Jody Guerra, program director at the center that serves about
225 people a month. "We're overwhelmed with the problem down here."

Pena hopes publicity about his walk to the Capitol will persuade other
legislators to support his initiatives. But, at its core, the trek marks
Pena's first installment on fulfilling a deeply personal commitment.

"There is a practice in my culture of the promesa, where you make a promise
and take on a task or withhold pleasures as part of a prayer," Pena said.
"I made one of those at a local church several months after my son died."

He was upbeat Thursday as he left LaHacienda Drug Treatment Center.

"It's like being thirsty, and finally having a glass of water right in
front of you," he said. "It will help me come to terms with the passing of
my son's physical life."