most asked questions

Q and A with Buttery Director Barry Evans

The Buttery is a well known building on the Binna Burra Road near Bangalow, in Northern NSW and probably most would know that it is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. Yet a lot of people still don’t understand exactly what happens there or how it works. So we put some questions to Barry Evans, the Buttery’s Director since 1982.

Question:
For instance – do people seeking treatment come and stay at the Buttery or is it a day centre?
Answer:
The Buttery runs four main programs. The major one is the Therapeutic Community program. This is based around a 7.5 month residential stay usually followed by a period of transition in a half way house.

Then there are 3 different outreach programs designed to help people in the local Northern Rivers community who are facing issues with drugs, alcohol and gambling or who have problems with mental illness and substance abuse. People don’t need to live-in to take part in these programs. The outreach counselors assess people’s needs and then, for instance, might recommend individual counseling and group sessions that are held in the local area for as long as is required.

Question:
Can you explain what is meant by a Therapeutic Community?
Answer:
A Therapeutic Community relies on a self-help approach within a supportive community environment – like the Buttery. In fact, the ability to recover is often directly related to the support of an understanding group. It’s about offering a safe, nurturing space that fosters personal growth and behavioral change so that people can realise a sense of self-worth, learn the living skills that we often take for granted and take their place in society.

Question:
How many residents would you have at one time? And for how long?
Answer:
The Therapeutic Community program, which is a 7.5 month residential program, can treat 30 people at any one time. On top of that there are the three outreach programs that we mentioned earlier dealing with drugs, alcohol and gambling. These programs are run in the local community.

Question:
Do you offer treatment for all kinds of drugs?
Answer:
We offer treatment for all illicit drugs and alcohol.

Question:
How does a Therapeutic Community differ from any other DA rehabilitation facility? Does it have a better success rate?
Answer:
A Therapeutic Community is a treatment facility in which the community itself, through self-help and mutual support, is the principal means for promoting personal change. In a therapeutic community, residents and staff participate in the management and operation of the community, contributing to a psychologically and physically safe learning environment where change can occur. In a therapeutic community, there is a focus on the biopsychosocial, emotional and spiritual dimensions of substance use, with the use of the community to heal individuals and support the development of behaviors, attitudes and values of healthy living.
There is evidence that residential programs do have a higher success rate than other types of treatment. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS) concluded that
"Despite the poor clinical profile of residential rehab clients, clinical improvements associated with residential rehab have been demonstrated amongst US, UK and Australian samples. ....70% of residential rehab clients from the ATO Study were abstinent in the period immediately following a 12 months follow up."

Question:
How do people apply? Do you have to be referred by a doctor?
Answer:

The majority of people self refer either because they have heard of The Buttery, seen it on the web or been recommended to them by a friend or ex-resident. Other sources of referral include other drug and alcohol agencies, doctors and community counselors.

Question:
Do people pay to come? Or how else are you funded?
Answer:
There is a misconception that to get into The Buttery costs a lot of money. That’s not true. Whilst residents contribute 80% of their Centre link payments each week they do not have to pay anything more. Whilst 60% of The Buttery’s income is derived from government sources, like the Centre link payments, we rely very heavily on fundraising and donations to make ends meet...

Question:
Is there a waiting list?
Answer:
Yes because we have an excellent track record for recovery. Right now the waiting list is 5 months. This may not sound a very long time, but it is when you consider what can happen in a day or a week if you are addicted to drugs or alcohol – let alone 5 months. One of our major objectives in building a new Buttery is to double the capacity to 60 residents which will reduce the time people must wait.

Question:
Why do people drop out of the program? Can they ever come back?
Answer:
Yes they can reapply and then join the waiting list until a bed becomes available.

Question:
Does it only cater for local people?
Answer:
The Buttery is for residents of New South Wales. We get a lot of people from Sydney obviously - but they come from all round the State. However one third (10) of our beds are dedicated to residents from the local community (the Northern Rivers).

Question:
How can local people support the work you do?
Answer:
Over the years of my association the local community has been very supportive of The Buttery, their positive attitude to the work that we do in recognizing and accepting the need for places such as The Buttery as well as tangible support through donations and involvement as volunteers has been very gratifying. But in particular, by supporting our fundraising you can help. There are all sorts of things you can do from coming up and spending $10 at the Buttery Carwash run by the residents run on the last Sunday of every other month (when the Bangalow Market is on) buying a painting at one of our art EVENTS like the Affordable Art Show or FEHVA art auction and sale, attending a David Helfgott concert presented by our much loved patrons David and Gillian Helfgott or subsidising the cost of a day, or a week or a month of recovery ( ONE WEEK IS $490 ). All donations are tax deductible.

However, our really big challenge for the next 4 years is to raise enough money to build a New Buttery – a new Centre of Excellence in Recovery from Addiction that will allow us to increase our services, develop training programs for counselors and extend our research. The current building we’re in is over 100 years old – and really showing its age so its costs are disproportionate amount of money to maintain it. Plus we have no room to expand where we are. We already own the land for a new Buttery (40 acres close to the current site) and just this month we have lodged a DA with Byron Shire Council for the new project. What we need now is the money to begin the building project so with the DA lodged we now start the big job of applying to government departments, philanthropic trusts and appealing to private donors to help us raise the $15 million dollars required.

For more information contact Dee Tipping, The Buttery fundraising and public relations
Officer on 02 66 871 623 or dee@buttery.org.au