A new recovery center in the East Valley is working around the clock to help the rising number of people battling drugs and alcohol in our state. Now Actor Daniel Baldwin is lending his name and his own struggle with addiction to help their effort.
“I smoked cocaine for the first time and when I smoked it, six months later I was in rehab,” said Baldwin.
His road to recovery has been long and painful.
“Torture, torturous, tumultuous,” he said. “The wake of destruction behind the actions of a drug addict are pretty significant.”
The actor was in and out of rehab facilities for years but says his ninth try at SOBA Recovery Center in Malibu helped him finally get it right.
SOBA Founder Greg Hannley says the addicts he treats are getting younger. Many are 20-25 years old, hooked on heroin and opiates.
“The drugs aren't the problem there's always other underlying issues that are going on with them,” he said. “They're sick kids, they're not bad, none of them want to feel the way that they feel.”
After noticing and influx of Arizonans at centers in Texas and California, SOBA opened facilities in Mesa about a year ago. They focus on therapy, nutrition and fitness, and life skills. Director of Operations Eamon O’Hara had his own intervention for drugs and alcohol in 2008. His mother, desperate for help, reached out to Daniel Baldwin.
“I’m a product of SOBA,” O’Hara said. “It was a long road from day one, until a year, and especially now, but I'm a product of what this program can do for you.”
