One
of 125,000
DC 37 Everyday heroes
Addiction
fighter
By ALFREDO
ALVARADO
The January graduation ceremony of the Chemical Dependency
Program at Coney Island Hospital felt like a combination revival meeting, talent
show and family reunion.
The 19 graduates from the day program sat in
the first row at the Gospel Assembly Church as they listened to several speakers
and watched performances by staff and patients.
Director Jaime Rosario
began by singing the praises of the program's creator, Dr. Lisa Baron, the Chief
Psychologist and a member of Local 1189. "Lisa is a very persuasive fundraiser,"
said Mr. Rosario, who admitted he had paid three dollars for a bagel during one
of her many drives.
Dr. Baron has worked at the Brooklyn hospital for
10 years and has coordinated the Chemical Dependency Program for the last three.
Besides her legendary fundraising skills, she has also modified the traditional
treatment approach by including social and recreational activities.
"I think it's important that the patients don't spend so much time thinking
about their addiction," she explained. "A lot of them live alone, and
the trips let them establish relationships with people besides their counselors."
In keeping with her treatment philosophy, Dr. Baron has organized outings to the
Bronx Zoo, Knicks basketball games at Madison Square Garden and even Broadway
plays.
Two years ago, Dr. Baron put together a softball team made up
of day-program patients. After they beat a hospital staff team, her Coney Island
Tornadoes joined a league and competed against other hospitals. One of Dr. Baron's
many fundraisers paid for the team's uniforms and hats, and the Tornadoes went
undefeated.
"Working with Lisa has been a great experience,"
said Dr. Theresa Manger, a Senior Psychologist and also a member of Local 1189.
"When it comes to sharing her knowledge, she's very generous, not only with
me but with other people as well."
Dr. Baron credits Vocational-Educational Coordinating Manager
Debbie Rubowitz, Certified Social Workers Delsa Fauconier and Erica Greenbaum,
both members of Local 768, and Arlene Lippel, an Addiction Counselor in SSEU Local
371, for helping to make the program a success.
After speeches by several
graduates, who thanked Dr. Baron and her staff, she jumped on stage and proudly
introduced her latest triumph, a rock band made up of members of the graduating
class. Aurora Concepts, a treatment program in Flushing, Queens, has invited the
band to perform at their next fundraising event in April.
"We try
to offer our patients a full program," said Dr. Baron. That includes high
school equivalency and computer classes and treatment for the patients who not
only are chemically dependent but also suffer from mental illness. "But the
most important first step," she said, "is getting clean."