Un-housed people who are dually-diagnosed struggle harder than the rest to return to the land of the living; harder than the plain old sick, the flat broke, and the simply addicted.
But at this very minute in Santa Barbara, at The Hotel de Riviera, 33 formerly homeless men and women with a dual-diagnosis are making progress in this grueling battle. Between 12 and 15 of them will graduate this year into permanent housing . . . completely sober. Seventy-five percent will never be homeless again, according to John Jamison, a Riviera program director. Here in this historic old bungalow on West Carrillo Street, a tight-knit team of seasoned recovery specialists is running an 18 to 24-month abstinence-only program that is unlike any other in the county. To read more, see homelessinsb.org.