Black Alcohol/Drug Service Information Center (BASIC)
UPDATE
3026 Locust Street
Saint Louis MO, 63103
Contact Phone: (314) 621-9009
Website: http://www.basicinc.org/
Details: The Black Alcohol/Drug Service Information Center (BASIC) is a community-based agency that provides comprehensive culturally sensitive alcohol and drug abuse services in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana. BASIC was established in 1983, as a pilot project of the St. Louis Foundation for Alcoholism and Related Dependencies. In 1994, BASIC INC became a Louisiana Corporation and replicated the services in Orleans Parish, with initial funding from the Lupen Foundation. This non-traditional modality included along with Alcoholic’s Anonymous/Narcotic’s Anonymous, the incorporation of the clients culture and areas of emotional pain associated with “cultural survival fatigue†in America. The programs goal is not one of merely cessation of addictive behaviors, but one of positively impacting the lifestyle of people of color, utilizing new and innovative strategies, that increase self esteem, self worth and cultural pride. The intentional positioning of crack cocaine and heroin in urban communities across the country has caused a loveless, hopeless and purposeless reaction within urban and rural families. In an effort to make a difference, BASIC has become a pioneer in substance abuse treatment, across the country. We have set the standards for other agencies that service non-white substance abusers, if they are to be successful. Our fingers are forever on the pulse of the community, not responding to crisis but setting the trends and developing prevention strategies to deal with the needs, demands, and problems of substance abuse within the urban community. BASIC has been recognized by local and national organizations as an exemplary model of a proactive and successful community-based substance abuse treatment program.