European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 01, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 1, 1978 future of Baum older s hefty House shaky the stars and stripes Page 9 like alcoholics it needs help badly  life i in act. Hefty House might be caught in a .,.a _.,.,.in fad e might t pin the classic catch-22. It s not that hefty House is unauthorized. It s just that it is not official. And be cause of its unofficial status it is caught up in the Morry go round of unofficial staffing that spells trouble. It opened in August 1972. It was organized by a sergeant who was also a recover ing alcoholic with the help of a Community chaplain for whom the program is named and it uses a doctrine As it main thrust. The program predominantly serves personnel of the 8th inf div but lakes referrals from other divisions. More than 600 per one Day we re trying to figure out How we can keep it open How we can staff it. The next Day i m told if we can t do it that Way then shut it Down. I be shut Down the in patient program and gone to this Stag gered schedule where i work two full Dansand three 12-hour Days. We be gone from an in patient facility to an out patient facility using a. I m pushing the a meetings right now. We re finding ourselves floating Back and Forth depending on whose office i m in trying to discuss which Way we can do it. I get lip service a lot of times Whalen said. Despite the in patient hold Over. Whalen is waiting to phase the service out if the . Fish n. Spec. 5 Mike Whalen right discusses problems of recovering alcoholics with three members of the hefty House program. Story and photos by Carrie a. Izard staff writer Baum older Germany secs on Jan. 5 a sergeant Here tried to kill his wife. He made a second attempt on her life four Days later. He says he remembers nothing of the two incidents. The sergeant is a recovering  began drinking at the age of 12 More than 25 years ago. Eighteen of those drink ing years were spent in the army. Before january he remembers 11 sober Days in six years. On Jan. 11, the sergeant was taken to hefty House an unofficial facility at the Baum older military Community. The Pur pose of hefty House is to provide military personnel with an Opportunity to overcome alcoholism and again become a function ing member of the military. Today almost six months since he found himself at hefty House and after 25 years of drinking the sergeant has White in his eyes. His hands Are steady. And he says he does a decent Day s work for a decent Day s pay. Just what is hefty House ideally it is a 24-hour, in patient out patient facility designed to help the alcoholic recover. Its program includes educational material films weekly alcoholics Anonymous meetings discussion groups one to one counselling a 24-hour hotline and Avail ability to Hospital help if an in patient experiences withdrawal distress. It provides anonymity to the Point that nothing goes Down on a service member s records. Files Are kept but not full Case re cords. And after six months All records Are destroyed. No record of alcoholism follows military personnel around the world. If rotated out of the area while in the program. Hefty House gives the person addresses of places where he can continue to get help. But hefty House currently is experienc ing some withdrawal symptoms of its own problems which May prevent it from continuing. Sons have gone through the program since it began. When it was implemented it was authorized two special duty slots and a full Tim Slot. Because the program was unofficial the slots were unofficial. This meant anyone filling the special duty slots were subject to recall to their unit if a commander decided he needed the Man. Three to five years ago staffing the pro Gram was no problem. Today it s a differ ent Story so part of the hefty House program is now in limbo. In the past commanders have come Forward and said we want to keep hefty House open but when push comes to shove Many times the people that they Promise us Don t materialize because they Are More valuable to the unit said spec. 5 Mike Whalen who finds himself right in the Middle of the hefty House turmoil. Whalen technically is released to hefty House from a Community drug and Alco hol Center Codac Slot where he was a Counselor. He is a behaviour science specialist currently trying to get the hefty House program together before he leaves the army in december. As no in charge of hefty House he is attempting to pull hefty House together so it will continue after he leaves. Hefty House was closed Down for almost two months when the last Guy in charge was rotated Back to the states. Twas never re staffed. Ideally we need two full time Day workers and one full time night worker said Whalen. Almost everyone involved with hefty House admits the program has suffered because of the staffing problems. For instance the in patient program is suspended with the exception of one or two holdovers who stayed with it after it technically was shut Down for two months. With Only one full time person there is not enough personnel to keep the 24-hour pro Gram operating. Program is forced to operate on a Days Only basis because of the staff shortage. I m trying to put the full 24-hour pro Gram Back in and staff it. I m still fighting for that. At the same time. I have to fight the reality that we May not gel the people. Unless i move Here 24 hours a Day. I going to have to Back up said Whalen. For those who have been through hefty House and particularly for those who continue to rely on the program for support the Luxation Means frustration. When i was up Here there were 14 living Here. We had three full time Slaff  said the recovering sergeant. If i can t come up Here i cry. It hurts. Right now it really hurts because Mike Whalen is the Only one running the place. He gets help but he s the Only one in charge. It s not  one solution to the staffing problem would be to request official status. Whalen already has begun initial Steps in that direction and says Hefly House is on the verge of becoming official. It would be a helluva lot easier if we were official. And really. Hefty House would not be in existence if the command did not  Bui pushing for that status includes proving to the Community thai the pro Gram is doing a valid Job in order Logette required slots. Even a change in status May not solve the whole problem. For hefty House has managed to sur Vive for five years on its own Merit. It has not existed because of some regulation or guideline set Down somewhere. The results were self generated. The Beauty of this program is thai we Are unofficial. But that also is our Nemesis because it is preventing us from getting the support we need. Unless we get staff support free Gratis at the willingness of the commanders Well just sort of trip along said Whalen. So there is the catch. Possibilities look Good that the slots could officially be filled which also could mean More paperwork and guidelines. If it docs not achieve official status As Whalen said As much of the program As possible will continue particularly the weekly a meeting but the future of Thein pal enl program looks dim. Much of the support comes from persons who have been through the Hefly House program. Currently four volunteers help staff hefty House but not full Lime or permanently. What Whalen Hopes for arc persons Wilh experience and longevity in terms of Lime left in Europe. The Best experience or qualification according to Whalen. Is first hand knowledge or a background in behavioural sciences. There is Community support for hefty House and from commanders also. One o f hefty House s most avid supporter is col. Carl g. Smith Deputy Community com Mander Here. The status of hefty House is that i want to see it kept open preferably on a live in basis. We Are doing everything we can to keep it open. What i see arc some signs that we Are gelling almost encouragement from higher  said Smith who has been an advocate of the program since he came Here a year ago. And has gone to Bat for it during crises. Anonymity is advantage Smith too is concerned about the official status dilemma. He would like to see the program become official for staffing Pur poses but recognizes thai the ally action to Hefly House for Many personnel is its anonymity. Whether or not hefty House becomes official will be up to the resource manage ment personnel at Usa eur. In the mean Limo. Whalen continues the program and has already written the Stan Dard operating procedures. He stresses the weekly a meetings held tuesday. Wednesday and Friday at the hefty House and there s also a bus that goes to a meetings held at Ramslie saturday evenings. The phone will be answered and there always seems to be someone around More than willing to talk and be a Friend. Hefty House is functioning and Proba Bly will continue to function Wilh or Wilh Oul the 24-hour service. But in the words of Whalen. The Nice thing Aboul an in patient service is thai in allows us to hold on to the Guy and keep him in a drug free atmosphere for at  hefty House Grad mans hotline