Building Bridges

"You can't just put a kid in a class and say 'drugs are bad,' it doesn't work," says Cynde Roth, clinical social worker at Vista Hill's Bridges Service Center, a treatment program for teens with substance abuse or mental health issues.

Bridges started in August 2005, becoming San Diego's first intensive outpatient program for teens. The program enables teens to maintain their normal daily lives while getting treatment in the afternoons and evenings. For some teens, it works as a step-down service, in the aftermath of an inpatient session. For others, it works as early intervention, avoiding the cost and trauma of inpatient hospitalization altogether.

Bridges educates troubled teens on family issues, communication skills, decreasing impulsive behavior, anger management, consequences of substance abuse, and improving grades in school. But classes alone aren't always enough to get a teen back on track. "We go into their homes and work directly in their environment," says Roth. "You have to teach the parent what the teen is learning, so that they can take those skills home and follow through. It's a very enjoyable part of the job - I enjoy going into the home and meeting the family and setting up a program for them."

Vista Hill (Bridges' parent company) has been providing San Diegans with recovery options since 1957. As they approach their 50th anniversary, Roth considers how intervention and recovery have changed. "A lot of teens having an addiction issue are also having a mental health problem, and often are using [substances] as a result of it. You have to deal with both problems. If you just tell a kid to 'get better,' it doesn't work. You have to ask why a kid is angry or sad or having family problems. At Bridges the emphasis is treating them as a whole person, in their environment, and treating their family. That is much more effective than it used to be." (858/794-9735, www.vistahill.org) - JJ Hall

Connie: For Love Of Family

When 60-year-old Mexican-born Magdalena Martinez, known as Connie by her San Diego friends, speaks to me from her comfortably- furnished room in Del Mar, she is thankful to be alive. Diagnosed three months ago with coronary heart disease, this housekeeper has had sufficient time to digest the severity of her diagnosis. Ironically, Martinez's status as one of San Diego's working poor with no health insurance has, perhaps for the first time, proved beneficial.

In September of 2005, after Martinez started working for a family in Del Mar, she began to feel unwell and suffered some shortness of breath. "I went to see Dr. Wheelock but didn't tell the family," admits Martinez, shyly. "I guess I was afraid I might lose my job."

G. Richard Wheelock, MD is a co-founder of St. James and St. Leo Medical and Dental Program, where Martinez was being treated for high blood pressure. Through this nonprofit organization, an average of 80 patients arrive each week to receive care by volunteer nurses and doctors. Located in Solana Beach and known as St. Leo, it provides comprehensive medical and dental services to the working poor with no health insurance who, except for emergencies, would not otherwise be able to obtain such care.

After careful examination, a concerned Wheelock referred Martinez to one of the organization's volunteer medical specialists, George Dennish, MD, a cardiologist at Scripps. More arrangements were made that involved a complex network of volunteer hospital staff so Martinez could undergo numerous and complex tests. Results of those tests determined that she had a fatal heart disease and would need aortic valve replacement and triple by-pass surgery.

The estimated value of all these comprehensive services and procedures would be in advance of $250,000. "Without the surgery Connie could have suddenly gone into heart failure," says Wheelock. "We at St. Leo are very fortunate to have great volunteer staff and a network of specialists that are willing to help people like Connie. Our nurses and doctors are of the highest quality, are compassionate, successful, and feel strongly about giving back to the community."

As it turned out, Martinez's Del Mar family were also very compassionate when they heard about her illness. "They gave me a big hug and told me that I was one of the family and they would help look after me."

For Martinez, "being looked after" is a luxury she has never been afforded. Distressing hardship filled her early years while living in rural poverty in Guadalajara, Mexico. As the eldest of six children, she carried the burden and responsibility of helping to support the rest of her family. "I had three years of school education and began regular work as an eight year-old, running errands, washing dishes, washing clothes, and cleaning houses - anything to earn money."

The warm, fuzzy pleasures of childhood never belonged to Martinez. Hard labor consumed her waking hours. At 13, she moved in with her 28-year-old husband-to-be and the demands of work increased. At 14, she gave birth to the first of their seven children. "Despite my constant working we remained very poor. My children had no shoes, pants, or anything."

In 1968, Martinez didn't have the money to send her children to school, so she decided to find work in America. "I sent the children to live with my mother in Guadalajara and then, with the help of friends, I went to Tijuana and then to La Jolla where I worked for a Spanish family." Martinez was 23.

Martinez's first wages amounted to $35 a week. "I kept five for myself and sent $30 to my mother for the children," she says, adding, "For the sake of my children, I was determined to progress in life." Whenever possible, Martinez returned to Mexico to visit her children and in 2000, she became a United States citizen.

On the wall in her room, Martinez points to a collection of photographs of her now grown-up family, which includes 13 grandchildren. For all the hard work she has put in to support these children over the years, to have it end so suddenly would have been tragic. St. Leo has given Martinez more time to watch her family grow. "I am still working hard, but now it is to get better so I can go and visit them," she says with a smile. "I am able to do this because of the consideration, attention, and care from people like Dr. Wheelock, his team of specialists, and my Del Mar family. I am eternally grateful to them all."
- Ingrid Hoffmeister, photography by Vincent Knakal

St. James and St. Leo Medical and Dental Program

Year Founded: 1992

Current Medical Director: G. Richard Wheelock, MD

Mission: To provide comprehensive medical and dental services to the working poor with no health insurance and, except for in emergencies, not otherwise able to obtain such services.

Donation Administration Costs: 0%

Current Funding Objectives: To increase comprehensive medical services.

Organization's Biggest Challenges: To expand the scope of outside services provided.

Contact Information: 858/259-9464