By Clyde Noel

The Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) is celebrating 30 years of providing low-cost and free counseling to troubled youth and other needy residents.

In 1971, Dody Alexander represented the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District at the California Drug Education Training program sponsored jointly by the State of California and Santa Clara County.

A steering committee was formed and a grant made available to take a serious look at drug and alcohol use within the high school population. After many meetings, a Joint Powers Agreement, supported by the cities of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills and their school districts, was formalized and CHAC was officially in business.

Former board member Joan McDonald said a grass-roots organization was formed. CHAC and the school district emerged as partners with $40,000 in startup funds.

“We discovered we could not serve all the people who needed help, so we refined the training; and now we are involved in every school in the district,” McDonald said. “There is still some denial among us, but not like our ostrich days.”

McDonald said programs evolved as members noticed needs that no one else was able to serve. They now include counseling for unemployed men and women.

“Frankly, we are the best kept secret in the Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View area,” McDonald said.

By the mid-1970s, the CHAC concept had developed into a unique and effective approach to drug prevention and intervention. Counselors began working with students on the school campuses as well as in-house. CHAC offered internships for master’s and doctoral candidates.

“The key element has been the internship program,” said Lawrie MacMillan, associate director for clinical services. “We have 52 interns a year in training. They make a small stipend and receive much supervision and training.”

Sue Graham, president of the CHAC Board of Directors, said the board understands that interns are what makes CHAC what it is today.

CHAC soon realized that true prevention had to begin in the elementary schools. That led to expanding services beyond the drug and alcohol counseling to include most area mental health counseling.

Today CHAC services include drug and alcohol counseling, family counseling, living skills groups, conflict resolution work, parent support, education groups and crisis interventions.

Katrina Smathers, a board member in 1977 and again in the 1990s, commented that when Monique Kane became the executive director they had 16 interns who worked on seven campuses. Now there are 52 interns and 25 supervisors who work on seven programs.

The problem today is funding. With the expansion of additional services, the Joint Powers support provides only one-quarter of CHAC’s funding requirements. The budget in 1973 was $45,000; in 1992 it was $414,000; today, the budget is well over $1 million.

“It is a true challenge each year to meet the needs of the community and function financially,” said Kane. “We are constantly working toward more collaborative efforts.”