Randy Rowse, Janet Rowse, Rolf Geyling, Kristen Moore (Credit: Dale Weber)
Two Sides of the Same Mission: Prevention Meets Recovery
On October 4th, SafeLaunch Executive Director Janet Rowse accepted the Leni Fe Bland Award at the annual Santa Barbara Rescue Mission's "Bayou" benefit. What made this recognition meaningful wasn't the award itself, but the conversation it sparked about how prevention and recovery support each other.
The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission runs 12-month residential treatment programs for men and women. Their approach is working: graduates maintain recovery at three times the national rate, and they leave with jobs and rebuilt lives. You can learn more about their successful programs at sbrm.org.
What struck us most about connecting with the Rescue Mission was a shared understanding: every person who walks through their doors seeking help was once a teenager making choices about whether to use substances for the first time. Most addiction begins before age eighteen.
That's the space where Drug Free Clubs make a difference. These clubs create communities where students support each other in staying substance free, giving teenagers a way to handle peer pressure that actually works. Students, parents, schools, and local businesses all play a role in making these clubs successful.
Here's what we're learning: communities need both approaches. The Rescue Mission operates entirely on donations, without government funding, and their president Rolf Geyling and board have built something that truly helps people transform their lives. Their recognition of prevention's importance reflects wisdom that's surprisingly rare among recovery organizations.
We can't protect every young person from substance use, which is why effective treatment matters so much. But every life that never needs rebuilding is a quiet victory worth celebrating.
For more information about the Rescue Mission's fantastic event, and their even higher -3 times higher- than average recovery statistics, read the Santa Barbara Independent's coverage, here.
