Our annual event celebrates the victories of young people over substance abuse and honors entertainment and business leaders for inspiring them to make positive life decisions. Join us as we recognize these teens who have learned the lessons of honesty, responsibility, and concern for others on their road to recovery.

Proceeds will benefit our residential treatment centers, family therapy, and prevention programs in California. To purchase tickets to the event and for more information about our special sponsorship packages, click here or contact Stephanie Horsley at 310-880-0270 or t4t@phoenixhouse.org.

Register Here!

On Thursday, November 19, 2009, Phoenix Academy Orange County was one of the beneficiaries of the Good News for Kids Gala, an inspirational and entertaining evening of music, dance, and celebration held each year in Anaheim, CA  Becky Baeling, Billboard recording artist with a passion for those less fortunate and a dear friend of Phoenix House, was the featured honoree. The benefit supported Phoenix House and other worthy causes  in Southern California.

The event included a silent auction and a reception. Sponsors included: Golden State Foods, Grubb & Ellis, Property Solutions Worldwide, Merrill Lynch, The Orange County Register and United Stationers.

http://goodnewsforkids.org/gala/index.htm

Skylight will donate 10% of the sales of “Blame” from this event to support Phoenix House’s treatment programs in Los Angeles, which every day help hundreds of youth and adults in our community overcome the trauma of addiction and its related problems.

Sunday,    November 22
Start:         4:00 PM
Location:  Skylight Books, 1818 North Vermont, Los Angeles, CA

Blame (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Books located at 1818 North Vermont Avenue.By mentioning Phoenix House when purchasing the book from Skylight, 10% of the sale will be donated to support Phoenix House’s programs, which helps individuals, families, and communities rise above addiction.

In this gripping tale, Huneven charts the parameters of guilt and how a young, wisecracking intellectual becomes a shadow of her former self. Patsy MacLemoore, a boozy history professor, is helping her boyfriend, Brice, take care of his niece, Joey, whose mother is undergoing cancer treatment. But when Patsy goes on a bender and emerges from a drunken blackout in jail, she learns she’s accused of having run down a mother and daughter in her driveway. After her conviction, Patsy transforms from free spirit into a convict, and Huneven deftly underscores the bizarre trajectory Patsy’s life has taken. Huneven’s exploration of misdeeds real and imagined is humane, insightful and beautiful.

Michelle Huneven is the author of two previous novels, Round Rock and Jamesland. She has received a General Electric Foundation Award for Younger Writers and a Whiting Writers’ Award for fiction. She lives in Altadena, California.

Rep. Grace Napolitano gave each program graduate an individual Congressional Recognition Certificate and expressed heartfelt wishes for their successful and lifelong recovery. Among those honored by Phoenix House and Congresswoman Napolitano was Suzanne Ostermann who played a special role in establishing the Santa Fe Springs and Monrovia programs 11 years ago.

Many thanks to the numerous supporters of our Women and Children’s Services in Los Angeles who were honored during the ceremony with certificates and plaques: Agent Steve Bartholomy, Parole, Pasadena; Dr. Elyse Eskridge, M.D.; Stephen Goya, Administrator for Parole Region III; Agent Dominique Hughes, Parole Pasadena; Shelly Pollard, Santa Fe Springs Parole; Monrovia Fire Department; Monrovia Library Literacy Program, Parole Region III, Pasadena; A & D Transportation; Norwalk Department of Juvenile Justice; Agent Dan Mendez, OSATS; Daniel Ramirez, OSATS; and, last but not least, U.S. Congresswoman, Grace Napolitano, who helped fund our new outpatient program for women at Santa Fe Springs.

Big Sunday allows those in our care to work on projects that have a lasting, positive impact on their physical environment and that engender pride. The Serenity Garden provides our residents with a calm, safe place in which they can experience ordered beauty and gather their thoughts. The garden has two abundant flower beds and a small fountain. Women visit the serenity garden when they want a moment of tranquility, want to practice “grounding” strategies to deal with trauma, or need to think about a personal challenge.

Tickets to the Los Angeles and New York movie premieres and after-parties for Sony Pictures Cadillac Records were auctioned off to benefit Phoenix House. Beyonce, who portrays drug-ravaged R&B legend Etta James in the movie, spent time with recovering addicts at Phoenix House’s Brooklyn facility. She spoke with several people in recovery from heroin addiction to understand James’ struggle with drugs. Now, a strong supporter of Phoenix House, Beyonce declares, “What they do there is amazing. I learned a lot about life and myself.”

The package included:

• 2 tickets to Cadillac Records Premiere
• 2 tickets to After Party (reserved table at venue)
• Full course dinner for 2 at a four-star restaurant
• Luxury car service for evening
• A designer dress from the House of Deréon collection
• 2 Beyoncé autographed copies of the Cadillac Records movie soundtrack

Cadillac Records chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists. In this tale of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950’s Chicago, the film follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America’s musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James, and Chuck Berry.

The film stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Columbus Short as Little Walter, Mos Def as Chuck Berry and Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James. Rounding out the cast are Emmanuelle Chriqui, Cedric The Entertainer , Gabrielle Union, Eamonn Walker and Tammy Blanchard. Written and directed by Darnell Martin.

Slide Show

Beverly Hills , CA , April 08, 2008 - Phoenix Houses of California, one of the state’s leading non-profit substance abuse treatment organizations, gathered Los Angeles’ top entertainment and community leaders at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on April 8 for its fifth annual “Triumph For Teens” Awards Gala.  The gala raise more than $325,000 to support Phoenix House programs for teens and honored this year’s award recipients—the cast and producers of ABC’s drama Brothers & Sisters, Los Angeles Police Department Chief William J. Bratton, and television anchor, legal analyst, trial attorney, and best-selling author Rikki Klieman.

“Phoenix House is committed to offering troubled youth, regardless of economic status or ability to pay, the chance to turn their lives around,” says Winnie Wechsler, Executive Director of Phoenix Houses of California.  “The success these kids achieve in our treatment programs is the result of a partnership among many members of our community, and it is wonderful they have joined us this evening to honor these kids who so deserve our support.”

Zev Yaroslavsky, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, presented the 2008 Public Service Award to Chief Bratton and Rikki Klieman for their contribution to civic life and exemplary leadership in bringing change to at-risk and disadvantaged youth and families in Los Angeles. 

The cast and executive producers of Brothers & Sisters were honored with the 2008 Phoenix Rising Award for the power and poignancy of the show, which captures real life struggles of a family and features characters with whom the teens at Phoenix House can identify.  Executive Producer Ken Olin and cast members Sally Field, Matthew Rhys, Patricia Wettig, Balthazar Getty, Sarah Jane Morris, Emily VanCamp, Dave Annable, and Ron Rifkin, were there to receive the award

Actress Debra Skelton hosted the evening’s program, which featured red carpet arrivals, a cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner, and a special performance by pop songwriter of the year and Grammy-nominated Kara DioGuardi and recording artist Katharine McPhee. 

Serving as event co-chairs were Carol and Frank Biondi, Sherry Lansing and William Friedkin, Ryan L. Tarpley, Christina Noonan and Timothy J. Noonan, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, and Patricia Wettig and Ken Olin.  Major sponsors included Timothy J. Noonan of Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC, the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation, Bank of America Foundation, and Grant A. Tinker.  Other key supporters included AEG, Kelly and Robert Day, The Handtmann Family Foundation, Mary Hayley and Selim Zilkha, Neil Kadisha, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Security Pacific Bank, and Wells Fargo.

“Triumph for Teens”celebrates the victories of young people over substance abuse.  It is an evening of recognition for adolescents who have learned the lessons of honesty, responsibility, and concern for others on their road to recovery. 

Previous honorees include actress and advocate Lorna Luft, Paramount Pictures’ Freedom Writers, Timothy Noonan, president and CEO of Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC, Lynn Pike, COO of CapitalOne, directors Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) and Betty Thomas (28 Day”) and five outstanding television shows: ABC’s George Lopez, Fox’s House, CBS’s Joan of Arcadia, the WB series 7 th Heaven, and Lifetime Television’s The Division.

 About Phoenix House:

A leader in substance abuse treatment and prevention since its founding, Phoenix House has been the field’s chief innovator, introducing treatment models and methods that have become standard practice throughout the country and the world. 

Phoenix House’s adolescent clinical program has recently been federally recognized as evidence –based and listed in the National Registry of Evidence Based Practices and Programs as an effective treatment model, the first of its kind to receive this designation based on a study conducted by the Rand Corporation and extensive analysis by outside reviewers. The Rand study cited Phoenix Academy ’s program for having brought about marked reductions in drug use and unlawful behavior, while improving psychological status for youth in treatment, as compared to youth being cared for in similar residential programs.

Phoenix Houses of California has touched the lives of adolescents, adults, and their families for 29 years, helping them overcome the problems associated with substance abuse and empowering them with the skills to lead healthy, productive and rewarding lives.  Nearly 2,000 individuals each day receive treatment through 25 Phoenix House programs in California.  Phoenix House serves Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties with facilities located in Lake View Terrace, Los Angeles, Venice, Monrovia, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Ana, Descanso, Point Loma, and Carlsbad.

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Media contact:
Linda O’Hanlon
818-386-1916