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Alcohol Information Computer Files; The Department of Health, Education and Welfare; The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; The Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University; and the Office of Alcohol Program Management of the California State Health and Welfare Agencies. So Brenda Weathers of the Gay Community Services Center (GCSC) in Los Angeles, and Lillene Fifield cach started from scratch, producing separate

assessments.

Weathers estimated that 25-35 percent of the homosexual community in Los Angeles are afflicted with alcoholism. Although the isolation and despair which often plagues lesbians as a result of their oppression may not actually cause excessive drinking, Fifield suggests that it is very likely that their sense of alienation plays an important role in their high rate of alcoholism. She found that over 90 percent of the homosexuals who frequent the gay bars in L.A. have no contact with gay organizations in the community, Her reasoning makes sense: "Since the gay bar functions significantly in the lifestyle of those who wish to congregate with their peers, a high percentage of gays spend an average of 80 percent of their social activity time in gay bars and at parties where alcohol is served. There are few social alternatives to the gay bar scene for the homosexual person. Thus, it seems apparent that the influence of the bar scene on the homosexual community contributes significantly to the abuse of alcohol, even though the bar is predominantly for socialization."

When Fifield studied the personnel, services, outreach, and referral efforts of "non-gay" community agencies, she found that "only 4 out of 46 agencies make any effort to outreach to the gay alcoholic...only 3 out of the 46 agencies openly refer gay people to a gay agency...only 4 agencies report having gay-awareness workshops, and less than 25 percent provide training for their staff concerning homosexuality."

'In 1970 gay members of Alcoholics Anonymous in L.A. founded the Alcoholics Together (AT) groups, providing weekly meetings for approximately 1,200 women and men. Since then other AT groups have been formed throughout the country. In 1974 the GCSC in L.A. established the Alcoholism Program for Women (APW). This program, now a separate entity from the GCSC, has been designed and operated by women for women and has made the lesbian community a special target for outreach. APW uses volunteer help, of whom about two-thirds are recovered alcoholics. Its 24-hour hotline provides an initial contact for crisis intervention, interviewing, and intake into the program, peer counseling, a recovery house with fourteen beds, legal assistance, vocational rehabilitation, and a diverse series of ongoing therapeutic groups. The GCSC also operates the Van Ness House Program, which includes a statelicensed facility funded by county general revenue sharing funds. The Van Ness House services male and female homosexual alcoholics, has five paid staff members, and uses a great number of volunteers. The program also offers all of the services mentioned in connection with APW.

Alcoholism and Poverty

Many poor women, especially minority women, have had disruptive childhoods. Jessica Horne, a streetwise certified alcoholism counselor at Operation Newstart. has worked at this outpatient walk-in center in Cleveland's inner city for the past live years. Her clients do not have private medical insurance and have extreme problems with basic survival needs such as housing, clothing and food. About 70 percent of Ms. Horne's clients are black, 30 percent white. Her clients often have trouble relating to Alcoholics Anonymous because they feel it tells them to pray for abstinence. But "Black people have been on their knees all their lives," says Ms. Horne. "They've been praying too long. You've got to get up and start doing for yourself."

Although the counselors at Operation Newstart help clients with needed essentials, the female alcoholic brings an additional set of problems to

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them. While the black male client usually has no rešponsibilities at home and has lived on the street, the black female alcoholic usually has children and unpaid bills. "These women)," Ms. Horne says, "are angry at the black man or men who have deserted them, and they're intimidated by the women, usually black staff, at the County Welfare Department, who prejudge them." Whereas the male client in treatment seems relaxed and even flirts with his female counselor, the woman is tense, ready to explode: "It's hard to break down her defense mechanisms. You're just another threat who might, like County Welfare, take away her children.”

Five years ago Ms. Horne counselled women clients whose ages averaged 40 years. Now she receives women whose ages range from 15-21 years. Her female clients often have alcoholic fathers and uncles who have neglected or abused them. Rape, incest and sexual abuse are common experiences for these women as young children. "The female alcoholic thinks her baby is going to love her," MS.

Photo by Janet Century

Horne adds, “When you first meet her she pretends to feel cool and acts like she can handle anything. But you can read it between the lines, watch it in her face, and see it in her hands.'' Her baby is certainly unable to provide the love the woman needs. A six-pack before noon, which is considered a normal part of life among her adolescent peers, soon becomes a means of escape.

The success rate of Ms. Horne's female efients is low because they come for treatment too late. They feel badly about themselves, and if they have been through an especially traumatic time, they are referred to a local mental health center for additional therapy. Again the female alcoholic has to confront

SOME CLEVELAND ORGANIZATIONS

Al-Anon Information Service: for spouses, relatives and friends of alcoholics (621-1381)

Alateen Information Service: for children between 13-20 years who have alcoholic parents (621-1381)

Alcoholics Anonymous: provides a sponsor for alcoholics wishing to enter its 12-step process to sobriety (241-7387)

Alcoholism Services of Cleveland, Inc.: information, referral, and outpatient services (391-2300)

Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital: provides detoxification, outpatient, and aftercare (398-6000, Extensions 5677 and 5678)

Hitchcock House: intermediate and aftercare

another strange face and repeat her whole story. She has to fill out application forms and answer everyone's questions. She's confused and bewildered by a maze of services. And she's hurting inside. No wonder she becomes impatient and frustrated!

For lower-income clients there are a few inpatient services, but they service primarily male clients. The Harbor Lights Complex has a detoxification program which, out of a 50-bed capacity, allots about 5 to 10 for female clients. Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital also has a detoxification facility. The next step, a quarter-way house called Exodus, does not provide services for women; Orca House, a half-way recovery home, has limited space for them. The newest facility, Hitchcock House, does provide services for female alcoholics. It has a 12-bed capi.clty, charges on a sliding scale, and offers intermediate and aftercare services. “I could turn over 15 women to them a day," says M». Horne. "The problem is, these people writing proposals can't stop thinking 'male alcoholic'. That's what they used to, even though HFW specifically allots money for female alcoholic programs.” Ms. Horne hopes that someday someone will design a practical program which meets the particular needs of women alcoholics. Spearheaded under one continuous program, she envisions a four-stage process: a 7-day detoxification program when family members can live close to the client; a quarter-way house where supervision, medical attention and individual counselling help the client, still ritable, shaking and confused by her illness; a halfway house in which educational and job training ser vices provide short-term goals by which the client can test herself, improve her self-image and learn to feel good with small successes; and, six to eight months after detoxification, a three-quarter-way house where the chent can begin to work in the community and receive final evaluations of her progress, Such a program would involve the continuity of care which is so essential to an alcoholic's recovery.

How to Know If You Drink Too Much

The woman addicted to alcohol is also addicted to the whole process of acquiring and using it. She is also addicted to the lifestyle she has developed, to that concentrated portion of life that she relates to as if it were all of life. Even with what seems a singledrug addiction there are many other addictive elements in the alcoholic's life and behavior. Alcohol, or any drug for that matter, offers a predictability that life with its risks cannot guarantee. The alcoholic derives some comfort from alcohol, at least initially. But eventually she becomes controlled by it.

The sooner you recognize a drinking problem in your friend or in yourself, the easier it will be to work through it. What follows are some questions which may help you learn how dependent you are on alcohol. Here, in the privacy of your own thoughts, is a time to be absolutely honest with yourself:

1. Has someone close to you sometimes expressed concern about your drinking?

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AND AGENCIES OPEN TO WOMEN for female alcoholics, 18 years and older (421-0662)

Lake County Center: Women's Halfway House: charges on a sliding scale (354-2848) Lesbian AA Support Group: contact Kathy (371-8634)

Merrick Hall, Women's General Hospital: emergency, inpatient, and aftercare services (421-3100)

Operation Newstart: emergency social care, consultation and aftercare with no fee for service (361-5696)

Salvation Army, Harbor Light Complex: detoxification, counseling, and referral service: charges on a sliding scale (781-3773)

July, 1979/ What She Wants/Page 9