Breaking the cycle of violence

Last month, in recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Odyssey House collaborated with the Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE) to provide a series of workshops for more than 100 clients and staff. The workshops, held at the Manor and MABON, covered topics such as safety and prevention strategies, de-escalation of violence, conflict resolution exercises, group discussion, and self-awareness/self-care and healing exercises.

Providing education around alternatives to violence is essential in treatment programs as many clients have complex histories of trauma and abuse, and previously have had little opportunity to address them. Bringing CAE to Odyssey House presented an opportunity to do something fresh and new while providing essential information to help increase safety and control over certain behaviors.

The feedback from the participating clients was overwhelmingly positive and showed that the information resonated with them. Some specific comments include: "I will try to use words instead of fighting," "I feel that I learned skills for a lifetime," "I'll be more aware of the role my reactions can have with regard to disputes or conflict," and "It made me realize that fighting doesn't resolve anything."

Founded in 1974, CAE is a Brooklyn-based organization that develops and implements violence prevention programs for children, teens, women, LGBTQI individuals, people living with HIV/AIDS, people in recovery, survivors of domestic violence, and other at-risk communities.

Odyssey House develops healthy eating program with support from Aetna

Aetna is continuing its support of Odyssey House with the development of a new initiative called Creating Healthy Eating Families (CHEF). This new program will provide hands-on nutrition and cooking classes for mothers living with their children in the Odyssey House Family Centers. The $25,000 grant will allow us to focus on improving the basic nutrition and eating habits of mothers and children, including crafting individual obesity prevention plans to establish goals in the areas of food selection, eating behaviors and frequency of exercise.

This is the third grant by Aetna to Odyssey House, and the second in two years to support our health and wellness programs. Last year, we created a health literacy program aimed at improving overall physical health and quality of life for young families in treatment.

To learn more about CHEF, read the full press release here.

Dr. Provet on the risks of caffeinated alcoholic drinks

The New York Times published a letter to the editor by Odyssey House President Dr. Provet on the dangers caffeinated alcoholic beverages pose to underage drinkers. Read the letter below and let us know what you think. To read the original article, click here.

November 3, 2010
The Risks in Alcoholic Drinks

To the Editor:

In "Doctors Point to Caffeinated Alcoholic Drinks' Dangers" (news article, Oct. 27), alarming reports of inebriated students ending up in emergency rooms are the tip of the iceberg.

The broader problem is the number of young people who are being manipulated by targeted marketing strategies into abusing this dangerous mix of chemical antagonists that could irreversibly damage their still-developing brains.

Treatment centers across the country repair the lives of thousands of troubled teenagers whose
multiple dysfunctions can be traced back to abuse of inexpensive alcoholic beverages explicitly created to entice the lucrative and impressionable youth market.

This latest business twist, adding a high dose of caffeine to mask the effect of alcohol in sweetened drinks, has long-term consequences: heavy alcohol use in adolescence has been found to lead to a reduction in attention and executive brain functioning.

How many more young people will fail to reach their full potential before we take Four Loko and beverages like it off supermarket shelves?

Peter Provet
President and Chief Executive Officer
Odyssey House

What do you think of this trend? Do you think the beverage companies are deliberately marketing to underage consumers?

Odyssey House in the news

Coverage of this year's Run for Your Life event, as well as news of Odyssey House staff member Jeremy King's selection as CASAC-T of the Year, were featured in the October edition of New York Nonprofit Press. You can download a pdf of the issue here.


The 2010 Recovery Rally on September 25th at Randall's Island in NYC kicked off with a presentation by OASAS Commissioner Karen Carpenter-Palumbo (left) of "CASAC-T of the Year Award" to Jeremy King, clinical information systems coordinator at Odyssey House. Alongside them, left to right, are Odyssey House President Dr. Peter Provet and OASAS Executive Deputy Commissioner Kathleen Caggiano-Siino.

Additionally, news that Odyssey House was awarded a three-year, $1.2 million SAMHSA grant to create a recovery support network was covered by New York Nonprofit Press, Addiction Professional and Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. Find out more about this innovative program here and read the coverage here.