"I support The Council because of its innovative and long term approach to alcohol and other drug abuse prevention."
-Bill Dipple
“The abuse of alcohol and drugs has prevented so many people from realizing their dreams,
living the life they deserve and consequently bearing the burden of regrets, shame and sorrow.
The Council focuses its efforts on preventing these unfortunate situations from developing in
thousands of people's lives. I'm so privileged and thrilled to be associated with the Council.”
-Allen Fuqua
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Mission
To improve our communities' health, safety and productivity by reducing the incidence and impact of alcohol and drug abuse.
Core Values in Action
PREVENTING problems with alcohol and other drugs before they occur, INTERVENING when they do, and
PROMOTING RECOVERY for those who are already addicted.
History
Founded in 1946 as the Dallas Committee on Alcoholism by 30 prominent city leaders - including Stanley Marcus, E.M. Dealey, T.E. Braniff, Harry Hines, Karl Hoblitzelle, Carr P. Collins, Al G. Hill, Al Badger, T.M. Cullum, J.L. Latimer, Woodall Rodgers and James K. Wilson - and nearly 200 committed citizens, the earliest mission was education of the public. By 1950, the Committee was accepted as an agency of the Community Chest of Greater Dallas (now the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas).
Often a pioneer and forerunner in the field for the state and country, The Council recognized alcoholism as a disease eight years before the American Medical Association. As early as 1952, several of the Committee’s founding members were instrumental in establishing the Texas Commission on Alcoholism (now the Texas Department of State Health Services, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services); Al Badger, one such founder, served as the Commission’s first statewide chair.
In 1959 the Committee obtained a state charter, becoming the Dallas Council on Alcoholism. In the 1960s, The Council recognized a disturbing societal trend and later expanded its mission to address other drug abuse as well.
Over the decades, The Council has responded to increasing community needs, focusing on larger target populations and widening The Council’s scope of collaborative, evidence-based initiatives and services. Recognizing a strong cause-and-effect linkage between substance abuse and HIV, the Council added HIV street outreach and HIV case management services to its network of programs in the 1990’s.
For 66 years, The Council has served as the foremost community-based organization in North Texas offering substance abuse prevention and intervention services. The work has received accolades and awards, coverage by national publications, and inclusion in the Congressional Record. But most importantly, since opening its doors in 1946, millions of North Texans have been reached, changed and/or saved from the #1 preventable health problem in the United States – substance abuse.
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