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Moral support onlyfor which Richard Lucero of Weld Mentalalcohol treatmentHy 110N TOIJ .RFSON Tribune Staff WriterCity Council's Ihrce-member finance committee Tuesday night will be recommending the council give its moral support, but no financial promises, to a three-year, $187,000 alcoholism treatment program for Mexican Americans and also back Weld County’s new alcohol recovery center on a fair share per-capita basis,With the .finance committee meeting Friday, Council members Richard Boclleter and Irma Princic backed both moves, with certain reservations, but Councilman Gid Gates, the committee chairman, indicted opposition.In each ease, Gates indicated he sees local government moving far too far and far too fast in attempting to back programs beyond its fiscal reach.Gates pointed to the Weld Mexican American alcoholism treatment effortHealth Center, Inc. is seeking a three-year, 90 per cent federal grant for a $386,908 program.“It's awfully hard to start something like this (with federal funding) and then cut it off,” said-Gates. “But it’s doubly hard when it comes to financing it yourself.” ;.Lucero, seeking a letter of support from council as part of his federal grant application, said cost savings among police agencies and hospitals justify such a treatment program.And he defended the program’s proposed racial separateness, saying treatment programs designed for all in an Anglo-oriented society simply do not work very well for racial minorities.Lucero said the seven-year-old alcoholism treatment program which has been backed by the private, non-profit weld Mental Health Center hasurged forhad a recovery rale of about 44 per eent generally. But the program's recovery rate among Mexican Americans has been only 1.0 per cent.Swimming pool to reopen on SaturdayThe city’s swimming pool al Centennial Park on 23rd Avenue will re-open at 1 p.m. .Saturday after a two-day shutdown.According to Keith Wicdcman, manager of the municipal pool, a pump motor which handles filtration and chlorination of the water burned out about G p.m. Wednesday.Temperatures during the two days the pool was closed hit the high mid-9te.A similar program he directed solely for Mexican Americans in the San Luis Valley showed a recovery rate of 80 per cent, Lucero said. He said he no longer will settle for anything less than that.As proposed, the Weld program would have a halfway house for alcoholism treatment in north Greeley, would have a Fori Lupton office, would work with school districts for community education programs and would deal with local agencies seeking maximum assistance in rehabilitating alcoholics.The staff throughout would be bilingual and bi cultural, Lucero said.Lucero said a recent survey indicated there are at least 6,800 family members in Wcid County with alcoholic problems.Mrs. Princic, backed by Boettcher, favored a letter of support for the program. But she said it should be madeclear that it would not suggest any intentby council to help fund the program once •its federal grant ran out.Also meeting with the finance committee were Weld County health officials, seeking nearly $12,000 in city backing for the first half-year of its proposed $74,000-•:a-year detoxification center slated to open Monday as a scven*bcd facility in the old county hospital at Island Grove Park.Weld Health Director Franklin Yoder, and Luccro, pointed out their programs will not duplicate each other. The county facility will be for initial care of public drunks brought in by law officers. The Weld Mental Health Center program will deal longer-range with alcoholism and may use some space at the Island Grove facility.Continued on page 16
Newspaper Details
Greeley Daily Tribune
Greeley, Colorado, US
Sat, Jun 29, 1974
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Joanna S.
NA, 03 Mar 2022
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