Moving into a new millennium has
caused me to reflect not only on the accomplishments of SELF, Inc.
this past year but over the last 18 years of providing services to
some of the most disadvantaged people of Philadelphia. SELF, Inc.
grew out of the original state-licensed outpatient drug and alcohol
programs begun in 1985 by its predecessor agency, Outley Professional
Services, Inc. In response to the City of Philadelphia's critical
need to address the substance abuse problems of its homeless people,
SELF, Inc. was formed in 1989 to provide on-site drug and alcohol
counseling in city shelters. SELF's "clean and sober" program,
featuring the principles of a therapeutic community of peers,
transformed the shelters from havens for addiction and crime into
bases for recovery and wellness and became the model for
Philadelphia's entire shelter system.
SELF has grown from an agency of five employees in 1989 to well over
100 employees today; from a budget that included the first government
contract of $75,000 to budget in excess of four million dollars; from
a single program of drug and alcohol treatment, to comprehensive
continuum of care that extends from contact with homeless people
still living on the street through Peer Outreach to transitional
houses scattered throughout Philadelphia; and from a grass-roots operation to a professional, financially-viable
non-profit business. We developed an infrastructure to support the
programs in meeting the growing need and continuing to offer quality
services to as many people as possible.
The statistics of our accomplishments for the past couple of years
are evidence of this continued growth. They are presented in detail
throughout our annual reports. But for SELF, our success has always been about
more than a recitation of numbers. We understand that each statistic
translates to a life we've helped to save; a life of a person
previously labeled as a hard-core social dropout; a life that was a
burden and drain on society; a life that is now independent,
self-sufficient, productive and full of promise. We can literally
count thousands of SELF graduates among the productive members of
society and are proud to be a part of that transformation. But as we
all know our efforts have merely scratched the surface of a
monumental problem. So as we move into the future, SELF stands
committed to providing the opportunity and means for as many people
as possible to realize their full potential as "humans made in God's
image" by "rebuilding their lives-one at a time."
Dr. Sylvester Outley
