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SOURCE: Daytop New Jersey
Hurricane Sandy adds urgency to raise $100,000 for teen substance abuse treatment and education program.
Mendham, NJ (PRWEB) January 09, 2013
When Hurricane Sandy tore through New Jersey few escaped its destructive power. At Daytop New Jersey, the residential substance abuse treatment and education program for teens, the recently built Mendham, NJ preparatory school was without lights and heat for eight days and nights. While this inconvenience may not seem like much in comparison to the extreme destruction along New Jersey’s coast, it presented unique challenges to a fragile population.
According to James P. Curtin, Executive Director of Daytop New Jersey, “Even in the best of circumstances, it is a challenge for our staff to protect our kids from many of the self-destructive behaviors that have become commonplace in their lives. To do this through eight cold and dark days and nights was a heroic effort for our staff. Nerves were strained, heat was minimal as temperatures dropped to near freezing and lighting was barely sufficient for basic necessities let alone teaching. Families who don’t know where else to turn for help entrust us with their struggling teens, so I am happy to report that the 70 teenagers under our care came through this experience safely and without incident. To put it mildly, we dodged a bullet.”
Given the number of violent storms in recent years and the fury of Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Curtin feels that his administration must prepare as best they can for the next storm challenge. The school hopes to raise $100,000 through their holiday appeal to install a substantial generator that will support the living and teaching functions of this residential school facility — one of the few in New Jersey serving both young men and women who are struggling with recovery so early in their lives.
“The Holiday Season is one of light, hope, and warmth, comfort and joy,” says Mr. Curtin, “I ask you to not only wish this for our Daytop teens, but to help make it possible by equipping our Daytop New Jersey Preparatory School with a generator. All of the gifts received during the Holiday Season this year will go toward the purchase and installation of a new generator. Never again, do we want the safety of the teens under our care to be compromised.”
For more information about Daytop New Jersey or to donate to the Daytop New Jersey Holiday Appeal, please visit http://www.daytopnj.org, or contact Terry Carroll at 973-543-5656 ext. 749 tcarroll(at)daytopnj(dot)org
About Daytop New Jersey
Daytop New Jersey is a comprehensive treatment program for teens struggling with recovery. The program is individualized, family-based, cost-effective, peer-oriented and multi-disciplinary in nature. Special emphasis is placed on treating those adolescents without adequate financial resources and/or in need of an alternative to incarceration. The Daytop Preparatory School is the realization of the mission begun by Daytop New Jersey’s founder, Rev. Joseph H. Hennen in 1992 when Daytop opened its doors offering a program tailored specifically to the needs of adolescents with substance abuse and resulting behavioral problems. Daytop New Jersey now operates five drug treatment centers and each year serves hundreds of teens, aged 13 to 19 years, from 21 counties in New Jersey in both residential and outpatient settings. Additionally, Daytop now provides services, on an outpatient basis, to adults at both of their outpatient facilities located in Hunterdon and Morris.
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