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The John Brooks Recovery Center in Atlantic City, formerly known as the Institute for Human Development, has been helping people overcome their addictions to substance abuse for 40 years. Its client-centered programs provide residential services, outpatient treatment, meth-adone and suboxone treatment and testing for Hepatitis C and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Alan Oberman is the center's fifth executive director.

How did the recovery center get started? "It was started by John Brooks (in 1969). He was an ex-convict and recovering addict, and he started it as a storefront somewhere in the city."

How did the program grow? "Part of the way it grew is he got some backing from the Episcopal Church, and then he got a large grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. They bought the old YMCA building on Pacific Avenue. That's really where it started to take off. John was the director for about 20 years. There were three people after him, and I'm the fifth."

What services do you offer? "We have long-term residential service, three to six months, for men and women. There are 82 beds for men and 29 beds for women. We have an outpatient methadone/suboxone program and a mobile methadone/suboxone program, the bus. We have a women's intensive outpatient program and a traditional co-ed intensive program and outpatient counseling.

"We do HIV and Hepatitis C testing for all admissions, and we offer psychiatric evaluations and medication monitoring for all our clients that need and want it.

How many people do you serve? "We probably have close to 850 clients. We're probably the largest not-for-profit in South Jersey as far as the number of people we serve and the variety of services."

What kind of satisfaction do you get from your work? "I like being a part of turning people's lives around. I like improving the agency. When I came, the agency had a lot of operational and financial problems. It was like rebuilding it."

What makes the John Brooks Recovery Center program unique? "We offer a wider variety of treatments than most programs. We're one of the most comprehensive drug treatment programs in the state."

How can people get involved? "We'd love to have donations. We have very old facilities and one of the projects I'm working on is relocating our residence outside Atlantic City. And any donations can help with treatment."

Elaine Rose

What are you doing to combat the stereotypes of people seeking treatment for drug problems? "Some impressions are accurate. These are poor individuals with a wide variety of problems.

"I think what's happening in our society, is more and more people at all levels of society are affected by drug problems. But there's still a pervasive feeling of 'not in my backyard.' People want substance abuse treatment. They just don't want it near where they live."

"Most of our clients typically don't have health insurance. We're getting younger people. About one-fourth of our clients are younger than age 25. About half of our clients come from Atlantic City, the others from the surrounding area. About half of our clients are Caucasian."

How did you become involved? "At the time, I was working for Catholic Charities in Monmouth County, running programs for them. I was looking to do more. The director of addiction services for the state suggested I submit a resume after the director, Millicent Tate, died suddenly. I was offered the position in November 2004."

"I had been working in the field of addictions for about 15 years prior to that."

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