Tomorrow TLC celebrates it's 30th anniversary. Of course, the real anniversary occurred January 9 of this year. But, it's always too chilly in January in Arizona to have a picnic or spend a lot of time outside. So we normally put it off until sometime in April when the temperature moves up.
And what's different now than it was 30 years ago? Well, of course our population is much larger that the day we opened. On the day we opened, I was the only resident. In fact for the first month I was the only resident because I was busy cleaning and painting the Robson house, preparing for the second resident.
But once we got the first few residents, things began to snowball. To our surprise we had about 50 residents by the end of the year. Within two years we had 150 residents. And our population kept climbing monthly after that. And today we have the ability to house around 900 clients.
One thing that makes our program stand out from others is that we have started several businesses. And the reason we started was not about making money, it was more about saving money. We ended up acquiring so many properties to house our clients that we had to do a lot of maintenance to keep the housing in decent shape.
Out of that need we ended up getting a general contractors' license. And under that license we have an air conditioning and refrigeration license, and a roofing and remodeling license. Plus we have a mechanic's shop, a labor group that provides workers for local businesses, a convenience store, and a State licensed treatment program. These businesses provide training for our clients plus generates income for our programs.
In addition, we've started a training program where our clients can become certified as air conditioning technicians, plumbers, electricians, apartment maintenance workers, behavioral health technicians, and carpenters. We're quite excited about this aspect of our program. Because not only are we helping people learn to live sober - we're also teaching them a trade so they can care for themselves and their families. This investment in their lives will give them another reason to live sober.
Studies have shown that those with a legitimate trade or skill have a better chance of staying sober.
And as our mission is helping recovering addicts rebuild their lives; learning a marketable skill will give them another reason to stay sober.
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