CHICAGO�(http://www.finalcall.com)-After spending 5-1/2 years in a Michigan state penitentiary, Andre Fuller, 36, lived a life plagued with drugs, unprotected sex and other life-threatening behaviors. In September, the 36-year-old Black male will celebrate seven years of being clean and has dedicated his life to help eliminate substance abuse and the spread of infectious diseases in the Black community.

"I didn�t think that I would ever become clean. In fact, I thought I would die using. Now I travel across the globe speaking and giving the same help that was given to me. I tell everyone that drug addicts, alcoholics and those with HIV/AIDS are not bad people, they just make bad decisions. I know that if I continue to get the message to our people, that I will stay clean," Mr. Fuller told The Final Call.

With a willingness to change and the help of the Olive Branch Mission, a community-based treatment facility in Chicago, Andre Fuller has become a prime example of what can happen when determination is properly linked with grassroots organizations which are funded with state and federal dollars to rebuild and restructure the lives of Black drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentality ill. Mr. Fuller is now the alumni president of the mission that helped to change his life. One of the facility�s dining halls has been named in his honor.

"We need more substance abuse programs in our community. African Americans don�t want to ask for help for their addictions and constantly blame the white man. We have a choice and if we begin to help each other, we can conquer substance abuse in our entire community. I find that most times our brothers and sisters just need a hug and someone to talk to," Mr. Fuller added.

Although Andre contracted HIV because of his past lifestyle, he is healthy, plans to marry and is a full-time case manager at the Haymarket Center in Chicago, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility that turns no one away and is open at all times. Black men and women who are ready to break the cycle of substance abuse bring their often sick bodies and open minds to the successful treatment program, for their own sake and their children. To meet the special needs of women, programs for both pre-natal and post-natal chemical dependency are available.

On Jan. 14, Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) praised the Haymarket Center while unveiling a $1.5 million grant to install research sources that will initiate much needed substance abuse treatment programs in Chicago�s Black communities. The programs will be housed within Chicago�s Sinai Family Health Centers�soon to be re-named the Access Community Health Network�the largest cluster of community health centers in the Midwest. The funds are part of a $5.4 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration�s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). The center will provide 13 additional grants throughout the country, specifically in communities where there is a steady increase of drug, alcohol and HIV/AIDS cases.

"If more treatment is available to our people, drug dealers won�t have anyone to sell to in the Black community. These programs will match some of the best in the country. Our communities are under siege and we just don�t know what to do. Substance abusers are frustrated because the quality of their lives have been so diminished," the congressman said.

A former professional psychologist, Rep. Davis is convinced that there is a direct link between the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitative programs and the number of Blacks who find themselves trapped within the criminal justice system.

"Prevention, treatment and law enforcement is really the answer," the congressman added.

Black doctors, law enforcement officials and outreach specialists who helped to bring the funds to Chicago, support Rep. Davis in the quest to eliminate addictions, which they say would rejuvenate Black communities that have fallen prey to the abnormalities that consistently bombard and destroy the Black family structure.

Blacks who specialize in community addiction treatment told The Final Call how essential it is that the Black community receive more funds for research, which would enable adequate community-based and accessible rehabilitation facilities to be built.

Dr. H. Westley Clark, a key figure in channeling the funds to Chicago and the director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Rockville, Md., explained that these centers would help to reduce this epidemic in Black communities and irradiate the myth that the problem is mainly a phenomenon of communities of color.

"There are more whites using illicit substances than African Americans or Hispanics. There should be a seamless system in identifying people who need intervention and treatment. And we should recognize that substance abuse problems are not just the drugs and alcohol," said Dr. Clark.

"There are physiological problems, HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, child abuse and child neglect. We need a system that � imposes early intervention. By working with community help centers and Congress, we can begin to address the full spectrum of substance abuse," he added.

Mr. Clark, a medical doctor who also holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law school, has been hailed for his national leadership effort to provide accessible treatment to all Americans with addictive disorders. Now he is fighting to amend laws that prohibit the temporary sealing of criminal records, which would help the rehabilitated to re-enter their communities without being discriminated against due to a prior conviction.

He explained that when rehabilitated job applicants are subjected to admitting that they have been convicted of a felony within the past five years, they often do not complete the application process or are discriminated against if they do. As a result, many become depressed and turn to selling drugs or their bodies for income or using drugs and drinking for comfort, he said.

Dr. Clark supports sealing the criminal records of ex-offenders after a five-year probationary period.

"We expect felons who can�t get jobs to come back into our communities, function normally and make a future for themselves. The �Rehabilitation With Redemption� initiative will not expunge a felony conviction, but will give those who have been rehabilitated another chance," he said.

For 25 years, that has been the message of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ). The 3,400-member organization educates Blacks who work within the system on the racist tactics used to keep Blacks in cycles of illegal drug and alcohol use.

"Substance abuse has placed us in the entire realm of the criminal justice system," said Theorious Hickman, president of the North Carolina-based institution. "Many of our Black men who are �street entrepreneurs� aren�t users, but become addicts of the fast money and lifestyle.

"It has destroyed African American families. If a Black woman with children is in desperate need of substance abuse treatment and the father of the child(ren) is not there, where do the children go? They go into the system," Ms. Hickman added.

Black physicians who specialize in the area of addiction believe that community-based intervention and treatment can help heal the cycle of dependency. Dr. Andrea Barthwell told The Final Call that treatment within the Black community must be culturally sensitive and built on the rich history and values that reflect Black culture.

"In the African American community, there are lots of things that complicate the development of substance abuse treatment and our rates of initiation are different from that of the majority culture. Our recovery rates are generally low because the rehabilitative ways have been developed by majority values that haven�t always been consistent with minority ability," Ms. Barthwell said.

Black outreach activists are working with Black physicians to help drug users who may feel embarrassed if they admit they are in need of treatment. Advocates fighting for more substance abuse treatment programs in Black communities are also concerned about the unnecessary multi-step health insurance process, which often discourages those who need immediate care.

"There were times when HMOs made it virtually impossible for addicts to get help the right way. On many occasions, I must take the hand of the client, help them to complete paper work and make sure that they follow up with their primary physicians so that they can receive proper treatment," said Vanessa Maxwell, a Black case manager specialist with Healthy Start in Chicago.

Aiding in that process is Jameel A�bdur-Rafia, 33, a former crack user, and now one of Sinai Family Health Center�s top Black male outreach experts. Bro. Jameel told The Final Call that he, like Ms. Maxwell, will continue to use this grassroots approach of walking the streets of Chicago, recruiting those who need and want treatment for substance abuse, while educating the masses about the dangers of promiscuous sexual behavior. His testimony is as powerful as the work that he does.

"I lived a lifestyle of drugs and gangs. I was pronounced dead on the scene of a shoot-out at age 14. In 1992, Allah (God) took away those obsessions and compulsions. Many of my friends are either dead or mentally unstable," he said.