HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Marcia McCloskey - Paradise Connections Butte County Board of Supervisors
25 County Center Drive
Oroville,CA 95965
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
May 27th, 2008 J& 0 2 2008
ORO,41LLE,CALIFORNIA
Dear Members of the Board,
I would like to express my views on the proposed closure of the following Butte County Behavioral
Health facilities available to Paradise residents: the"Paradise Connections" Treatment Center,"Do
It Leisure" Independent Living Center and the"The Bridge"Youth Community Counseling Center.
Since many clients of the Butte County Mental Health Services here in Paradise are unable to
advocate for themselves,please allow their voices to be heard through my words.
I would like to share with you my personal experience with Butte County Mental Health. But first,
a brief history: I was brought up in a household wrought with addiction and domestic violence. I
was a victim of physical,emotional and sexual abuse and endured this until I moved out of
parental control at the age of 20 years. I began drinking and using drugs in high school and
stumbled through life,in and out of abusive relationships and using anything to relieve the
symptoms of what I now realize was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
After I became disabled with Degenerative Joint Disease and ended my career as a Sous Chef in
2004, 1 slid rapidly downhill into an immobilizing state of Major Depression. Dysphoric and unable
leave my house or even accomplish simple tasks,my family and friends were deeply concerned
but were unable reach me. I was alone,afraid and praying for God to take my life.
In January 2006, 1 somehow managed the energy to walk into the"Paradise Connections"
Treatment Center a completely broken person.What could have been a frightening and clinical
experience betrayed my expectations. My first contact was with Rhonda Gutierrez who greeted me
with warmth and acceptance and somehow I knew I was in the right place.Willa Burns guided me
gently through the application process and I was referred to Shannon Medrano who accurately
assessed my need for services set me up with Dr. Laura Feldman. Dr. Feldman ordered a complete
physical and blood panel screening to rule out any health problems that might affect my current
state of mind.We worked for several months and finally discovered exactly the right combination
of psyche meds to stabilize my condition.
Then she told me something no one had ever told me before; "You're an addict," she said. She was
very direct and the sudden realization hit me like slap in the face. Now I had something I could
identify and work with which started to give me hope. I began going to drug and alcohol groups
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JUN Ll 3 2008
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right here at the Paradise Center. I'm sure if I would have had to travel to Chico several times a
week,my attendance wouldn't have been as consistent.While working with co-facilitators Steve
Sanders and Howard Porter,who proved to be a very dynamic and progressive team, along with
other addicts in recovery, I broke through the barriers of pain that were keeping me in the dark.
Learning that 1 also had a co-existing mental health diagnosis, I started working with Lisa Arnold
in her Dual Diagnosis group and began seeing her one-on-one.Through this journey of recovery I
have been able to establish a strong support system of fellow travelers and together we are
achieving our goals of mental health stability.
In looking back over the course of my life, I can see what a long and treacherous road it has been.
But truly,the most significant turn my path has taken was through the doors of The Paradise
Treatment Center.If not for this team of extraordinary people,who often extended themselves
beyond the responsibilities of their employment, I don't know where I might be today.
But where I aln, is another story altogether.Upon the recunimendaLion of Sanders and Porter, who
saw something in me,long before I would have ever recognized it myself, I am enrolled in the
Addiction Studies Program at Butte College and have just completed the first year of my course of
study. I still receive invaluable mental health services and I am moving toward my new career as a
drug,alcohol and addiction counselor with a drive and passion I have never experienced before. I
can't even adequately express my gratitude toward the life saving intervention that I was given by
this agency.
And this is but only one very small account of the healing that is going on there today.There are
numerous adult and youth clients whom without proper mental health care might be wondering
the streets,lost,vulnerable and subject to predatory exploitation.What a complete and utterly
disastrous mistake it would be for us to extinguish the light that is leading so many out of the
oppressive darkness of poor mental health and addiction. If these services are in any way the
slightest evidence that Divine Intervention exists,who are we to disrupt a process that has been
designed by a Higher Power?
Please take the time to carefully consider all the evidence before making a decision that will affect
a great multitude of citizens in Butte County.
I sincerely thank you,
Marcia L. McCloskey
51 Roe Road Paradise,CA 95969
(530) 872-9091
E-mail: tullimoredew@sbcglobal.ne
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