SAD DAY FOR DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAM

Richard Connally desperately wanted help fighting drug addiction, so he had
himself put in jail.

Valley waiting lists for drug treatment were running 90 days long last
fall, and the 40-year-old Phoenix man knew he couldn't stay sober that long.

So, Connally took cocaine and told his probation officer about it. That
probation violation sent him back to jail.

There, Connally dried out. And as he had hoped, he was released to Harbor
Light, a 120-bed, long-term drug treatment program, the Valley's largest,
operated by the Salvation Army.

But the program at 2707 E. Van Buren St., which Connally credits with
saving his life, quietly went out of business Wednesday.

After more than 20 years and 8,000 clients, there was no longer enough
money. No private donor or government grant could be found to make up the
difference.

"There are no more long-term residential treatment programs available for
low-or moderate-income people now," said Sally Lara of the Phoenix branch
of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "Not having
enough substance-abuse treatment programs will make our homeless
populations grow."

Lara laments that the community seems to be more willing to build jails
than deal with what she considers the core issues. "Behind almost every
crime -- prostitution, domestic violence, even car accidents -- is drug and
alcohol abuse."

In place of Harbor Light, construction will begin this month to transform
Harbor Light into housing for homeless families and domestic violence
victims, mostly women and children.

Long-term drug treatment programs have been replaced by shorter seven-day
to 30-day programs that many treatment professionals and addicts say aren't
long enough.

The Salvation Army will remain in the treatment business, said Major Eda
Hokom, who supervises all Salvation Army programs.

A 100-bed, work-based residential treatment program called the Adult
Rehabilitation Center still operates in the Valley. It's a work-therapy
program, in which clients work during the day preparing merchandise for
Salvation Army thrift stores and receive counseling at night.

But the Valley's drug treatment scene will be different. Harbor Light
offered programs as long as six months. And what made the program unique
was the availability of so-called transitional housing, a place to keep
recovered addicts on track for up to 18 months.

"It was a good program -- a great program -- and it is sad to see programs
like this be sacrificed," said Sandi Gabel, a spokesman for the Salvation Army.

Addicts come from all walks of life -- nurses, attorneys, teachers,
stockbrokers, college students. And jacks-of-all-trades like Connally.

The program had been operating in the red for years, but the Salvation Army
kept it going because of the great need in the community, Hokom said. The
$800,000-a-year program was running $300,000 over budget each year.

Although Harbor Light funding officially ended Wednesday, some of the
remaining residents will be allowed to stay until the end of June.

Connally, who will have to find new housing, vows to be the one to turn out
the lights because the program and the people he has met there have been so
important to his life.

In January, just days after Connally got into the program, the Salvation
Army announced that Harbor Light would be closing as a drug-treatment center.

After graduating from the program in February, Connally got a job as a
shipping clerk, but stayed in the transitional quarters so he would have
better access to treatment. It also meant being around people with a
similar commitment to stay clean.

Connally has his family back and is planning to return to college where he
hopes to study counseling.

He calls his counselor at Harbor Light, Robert Dapsich, his "oxygen."

"I was dying," he said. "He introduced me to myself. For as long as I live,
I'll never be able to express my gratitude to him."

Without this treatment, Connally says, his only choices were prison or
death. "That is also what I face if I pick up addiction again," he said.

At Harbor Light's final dinner and graduation program Friday, Connally's
ex-wife and four children came to help him celebrate.

"My kids wanted to wear my suit jacket -- they were actually proud of me,"
Connally said.

Reach the reporter at Maureen.West@ArizonaRepublic.com or (602) 444-8167.