Focus Counselling Services marks a milestone of turning lives aroundBy Jessie Moniz HardyFor John (not his real name), addiction treatment charity Focus Counselling started out as a haven from the streets.“I came to Focus because one of the members invited me to come and hang out there and be in a safe place,” he said. “They told me I could be there every day. I was lonely, hungry and had no place to sleep.“There were people there who helped me get to the doctor, they also went with me to court. Eventually, I was able to get into drug treatment. I am now two years clean.”Another former client said: “I went to Focus only to be out of the weather. The weather was so bad that they let me stay two nights.“Well, I have been clean from drugs and alcohol for two years now, and it all started when they took me in.”These are just two of the many people helped by Focus Counselling Services, a local charity that helps addicts find sobriety and also aims to build healthier families in the community.This year the charity celebrates 25 years of service to the community.“I really am surprised it has been 25 years,” said co-founder Ms Butterfield. “The time has really gone by fast.”Focus was originally started in 1992 by Ms Butterfield and the late Jerry Griffiths.Mr Griffiths wrote a regular column about addiction in Mid-Ocean News called Back from the Brink.Ms Butterfield had trained in addiction with the Addiction Research Foundation and had started out working at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital at Addiction Services, the precursor to Turning Point, now at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute.Focus began by operating out of the Salvation Army Shelter. When the need for Focus’ work grew it moved into its own office space on Union Street. It is now located on Elliott Street.In the beginning, addiction counsellors at Focus saw mainly alcoholics. Today, Focus tends to see younger people with more complex problems.“Even though Addiction Services was doing work with heroin addicts the big drug of choice was alcohol,” Ms Butterfield said. “Closer to the 90s, we were seeing the alcoholic come with other drugs such as cocaine, heroine or marijuana.“Now we are looking at more than one substance, and as time goes on we very seldom see an alcoholic.“I think this is because they are gravitating more towards programmes such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).”Ms Butterfield thought people were falling prey to addiction at a younger and younger age.“I believe they are starting at least 16 or 17 years old with marijuana or alcohol, which are gateway drugs,” she said. “Of course, not all people who use alcohol and marijuana graduate to other drugs.”Focus not only offers addiction counselling, but also helps clients with basic life skills.“We teach our clients how to apply for a job, how to eat in a restaurant, how to catch a bus,” said Ms Butterfield. “These are all the things that we assume that everyone knows, but this isn’t necessarily the case.”Ms Butterfield said that one of the strong points of Focus is that they do outreach for their clients.“Anyone who wants to come to Focus can just arrive at the door,” said Ms Butterfield. “They can take part in morning devotions, breakfast, and support group. We give them lunch.“They can stay there out of the heat or cold and watch television and interact with the counsellors that are there.“We do a lot of advocacy. We take our clients to court, to the doctors. We do a lot of holistic therapy.”For the last five years Focus has been operating a 90 day inpatient programme called Genesis.They also have supportive residency programme for people who have completed an inpatient treatment programme such as Genesis, Harbour Light or Turning Point.The supportive residency has a set of rules to follow with a curfew and community service requirements.“If they stay clean they are welcome to stay in our supportive residency,” said Ms Butterfield.Ms Butterfield said she was happy with the success rates of Focus.“When people talk about a success rate, unless you live with the person 24 hours a day, you can never guarantee what the success rate is,” she said.But she estimated that they had at least a fifty to sixty percent success rate for people who had been through their supportive treatment or residency programme.“If they are working the programme they are clean,” she said.On September 14, at National Stadium at 4pm they are planning to have a second Nelson Bascome soccer tournament to remember the late Progressive Labour Party (PLP) member of parliament, Nelson Bascome, and raise funds for the charity.“It was a huge success last year,” said Ms Butterfield. “Nelson worked with Focus. He was my heart.”For more information see www.focus.bm