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Of Note:

Camillus House in the 1980s

March 11, 2010

by Dr. Paul R. Ahr

Nationwide, the 1980s ushered in new challenges both for persons who were poor in America and the persons who served them. The public policy shifts ushered in with the new Administration in Washington led to less support for social and health programs at a time when the reduction in the size of public mental hospitals, the availability of inexpensive illegal drugs and the uptick in diseases like HIV/AIDS created growing numbers of persons without adequate resources to live a safe and dignified existence. In Miami, the decade began with the influx of many, if not most, of the 125,000 Cuban refugees in the Mariel Boatlift that lasted from April to October 1980. For the better part of this decade, social problems experienced in all major cities in America were magnified in Miami by this International event and glamorized by the media through TV shows such as Miami Vice.

The emergence of competent and caring services for persons who are sick and addicted.

We have previously (2/28/08) recalled the contributions made by Dr. “Joe” Greer, Brother Paul Johnson as well as volunteers such as Rose Anderson, ARNP, Alina Perez-Stable, MSW and others in the establishment of Camillus Health Concern (CHC) in 1984. Begun as a voluntary humanitarian medical service by Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH) residents, by January 1988 Camillus House had secured the building adjacent to the main dining room/ dormitory facility and converted it, primarily through donated services, supplies and equipment, into a fully-functional medical clinic. To the names of these pioneers should be added those of Beth Sackstein, JD who secured the Federal McKinney Act funds than underwrote the clinic expansion and other grants, and her husband, Dr. Robert Sackstein, a CHC volunteer from 1986-1992 who worked with Ira Clark, then JMH CEO and VA Medical Center Chief of Staff Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable to establish critical working relationships with both institutions. Other volunteer physicians included Dr. George Ehringer, Dr. William Harrington, Jr. and Dr. Gwen Wurm. In 1989, psychologist Dr. Efraim Gonzalez inaugurated a volunteer mental health service.

Another treatment trailblazer came from within the ranks of the Brothers of the Good Shepherd. Brother Harry Somerville, BGS had been an educator prior to joining the Congregation. Recognizing the increasing and adverse impacts of illegal drugs on persons who were poor and homeless in Miami, in 1984 he established the Camillus House Addicts New Growth Experience (or C.H.A.N.G.E.) Group, a form of substance abuse treatment based on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step model. This program evolved into the state-licensed substance abuse and mental health treatment program later named the Camillus House Institute of Social and Personal Adjustment (CH-ISPA).

The neighborhood is changing.

As early as 1980, plans were being presented to redevelop the area described as Miami’s “skid row” west of Biscayne Boulevard and at the north end of downtown Miami. According to the Miami Herald’s Eric Rieder, this New Town in Town project was intended to “dramatically transform a crime ridden 86 acres…now occupied by flophouses, warehouses and a few businesses” - an area that included Camillus House - through the establishment of the Park West redevelopment district. One concrete product of this initiative was the construction of the Miami Arena, which opened in 1988, and was demolished 20 years later.

From the mid-1980s on, various strategies were proposed to purchase the Camillus House buildings on NE 1st Avenue and relocate its services, but none ever came to fruition. When some persons recommended condemning the Camillus property to clear the area and its clientele, cooler heads prevailed, led by City Commissioner Rosario Kennedy. Calls for relocation reached their peak as the opening day for the new Arena neared. Simultaneously, Camillus was acquiring, through donation and purchase, the land on which CHC’s Greer Building and both Camillus’ Somerville Residence and the soon-to-be constructed Labre Place are located. In addition, Camillus purchased the building now known as Matt Talbot House to provide supervised aftercare living arrangements for working graduates of our substance abuse treatment programs, a function it still performs nearly 25 years later.

Against the backdrop of dramatic national, local and neighborhood changes, Camillus House prospered and grew through the 1980s, guided in great measure by an evolving vision of Camillus as a ministry with a multi-site, multi-service mission – referred to as “The Camillus House Concept” – and an escalating appreciation of and respect by the community for the work of the Brothers in Miami and of Camillus’ volunteers and staff.