May 29, 2013
“From Fear to Faith” was presented on Tuesday May 28, 2013; by James Balmer, Dawn Farm President; and Jason Schwartz, LMSW, CAADC; Clinical Director, Dawn Farm. Dawn Farm was founded in 1973 by two men with little more than a vision, using the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, some ideas borrowed from a residential program in Quebec, and a rented farm house in Ypsilanti. From the modest farm house to the continuum of programs that we operate today, Dawn Farm has continued to address the essential needs of the community with creative, community-based solutions and to be a place of help and hope for hundreds of addicts every day. Dawn Farm’s success has been made possible by staying true to our core values and the unwaveringly generous support provided by the community . This program describes the evolution of the treatment field over the past forty years, discusses what can be learned from Dawn Farm's successes and failures, illustrates how mission-driven choices have allowed Dawn Farm to survive and thrive, and explains the power of rejecting fear-based program management.
Jim Balmer was involved with Dawn Farm as a community member when it began in 1973 and has worked for Dawn Farm since 1983. Jim led the organization through its growth from a single residential program to the continuum of services Dawn Farm provides today. Jim has trained addiction professionals around the United States and in the Philippines, Japan and Kazakhstan. He co-authored an article that was featured in Addiction Professional magazine. At the time of this program presentation Jim is currently on sabbatical researching a book that will describe Dawn Farm’s history, mission and values.
Jason Schwartz is the Clinical Director of Dawn Farm and an adjunct faculty at EMU’s School of Social Work. He serves on the advisory boards of Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work and School of Leadership and Counseling. Jason has been published in Addiction Professional magazine and contributed to a monograph on Recovery-oriented Supervision published by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center. Jason also serves as a board member for the Livonia Save Our Youth Task Force.
This program is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a FREE, annual workshop series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about chemical dependency, recovery, family and related issues. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services. For information, please see http://www.dawnfarm.org/programs/education-series.”