Phoenix House Career Academy Managing Director Herman Lozada recently attended the meeting of Community Board 13 Queens to report on the dangers of synthetic marijuana, often known as K2 or Spice. Read the article about this hard to detect, easy to purchase, harmful drug in its entirety and more on Herman’s informational address to Board members at the Queens Chronicle.

Keynote Speaker David Feherty

Each year, Phoenix Houses of Texas honors a community leader at the Triumph for Teens Luncheon for their dedicated service, promoting positive change in our community.  The 2011 Triumph for Teens Luncheon was held on May 13 under the leadership of Co-Chairpersons Lee Ann and Alan White with the Honorable Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida, featured as the keynote speaker. Over 700 supporters attended the luncheon honoring the late Paul M. Bass, Jr., and the event raised a record $1,058,250 for Phoenix Houses of Texas. Previous luncheon honorees include Ebby Halliday Acers, John and Libba Massey and Congressman Pete Sessions.

Founded in 1967, Phoenix House is a non-profit organization that operates a national network of residential and outpatient drug treatment centers. Phoenix House has been operating in Texas since 1995, providing Residential and Outpatient care to 15,000 individuals within the state each year.  An additional 90,000 children have received Prevention and Intervention Education through Phoenix House programs.

We hope you will join us on April 24^th to continue the great legacy of the Phoenix Houses of Texas Triumph for Teens Luncheon, bringing our community together to advance the mission of Phoenix House – to serve individuals, families, and communities affected by substance abuse and dependency.

To view photos from last year’s event, please click here.

As Mr. Williamson explains, it is not possible for the Department of Veterans Affairs to solely maintain the vast array of supports veterans’ need, especially when “unconscionable cuts to services and benefits” are on the table. By filling service delivery gaps, nonprofits such as Phoenix House ensure that our country is able to provide veterans and their families with the care and respect they deserve – thereby helping our nation fulfill its promise to those who have served.

Of course, Phoenix House can’t sustain our Services for the Military Community without the generosity of private donors, and a key part of Mr. Williamson’s message is that we really are all in this together – that when we support America’s veterans we’re not only helping to secure their success, but our own. In Mr. Williamson’s words, “To not leverage our returning veterans’ talents would be self-defeating and a crime against our future children who are in desperate need of leadership and heroes.”  We at Phoenix House couldn’t agree more.

Read Mr. Williamson’s full commentary on the Huffington Post.

The Phoenix House AmeriCorps Program held their annual Completion Celebration on January 20, 2012 at Salsa Caterers in the Bronx. AmeriCorps volunteers from the Class of 2011 received plaques and certificates recognizing their achievements. This year’s event was a double celebration with additional ceremonies for the graduates of the Phoenix House Career Academy Vocational Program. Graduates of both programs are well on their way to new employment opportunities with their enhanced skillsets. The evening’s guest speakers for the night were James Mahoney, Chief Financial Officer of the Altamont Program, himself a Phoenix House AmeriCorps graduate of the Class of 2002, and David Dilorenzo, CEO of Valentino Beauty Pure. Their words of encouragement and wisdom were inspiring to all guests attending. Special awards were presented to Denise Buckley, Director of Phoenix House Long Island City Center, and Gilbert Diaz, Procurement Manager of Donated Goods, for their dedication to the clients and mission of Phoenix House. We salute all graduates and wish them good luck and success in their chosen fields.

To join the conversation, log on to Twitter at 7P.M. EST on February 13, the evening before Valentine’s Day. Search for our #drugchat hashtag to see what others are saying.  And make sure to include #drugchat in your responses, too! Please RSVP to Emma Edelman, eedelman@phoenixhouse.org. We’ll hope you’ll share the love by inviting friends and colleagues to join us.

We look forward to chatting with you soon!