In 1978, The Citizens Committee on Alcohol and the Reality 10 Drug Program merged to create one agency serving Linn County—the Area Substance Abuse Council (ASAC). In addition to residential and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment services, ASAC also offered prevention services.
By 1980, the Marty Mann house grew from a women-only residential treatment facility into a co-ed program due to the need for services. That same year, ASAC began offering youth residential treatment services to young men. Within three years, the need for female youth services was clear, and the youth program became co-ed as well.
ASAC underwent a significant change in 1986, selling all existing facilities and relocating to our current location on 16th Ave SW. With the additional space, our adult residential program expanded to include halfway house services. We also began offering outpatient and prevention services in Benton, Jones, and Jackson counties.
We added the Heart of Iowa program in 1995, a unique residential program that provided substance use disorder treatment to pregnant women and women with children. Five years later, ASAC merged with New Directions in Clinton, Iowa, expanding our reach and adding King House, a halfway house for men, to our facilities. We were now serving 5 counties in Eastern Iowa.
In 2001, ASAC expanded in both Cedar Rapids and Clinton. This included the purchase of a building with office space, a dining facility, and childcare in SW Cedar Rapids to better respond to the needs and growth of our Heart of Iowa program. The following year, we began adding a three-building apartment complex (36 units) for our patients and their children to live in while in treatment.
In Clinton, ASAC purchased a residential facility, known today as Hightower Place, in honor of a long-time Clinton community advocate. Hightower Place opened as a halfway house for women and women with children.
In 2005, ASAC identified a pressing need for affordable, substance-free housing to support patients transitioning out of residential treatment facilities. This led to the construction of two transitional housing facilities, a 10-unit complex in Clinton (ND Housing), and a 24-unit complex in Cedar Rapids (The Way Home).
In July 2022, ASAC merged with the Substance Abuse Services Center, an outpatient and prevention services program located in Dubuque and Delaware counties. This brought ASAC to a service area of 7 counties throughout Eastern Iowa.
At the end of 2022, ASAC made a significant decision to close its youth residential program and introduce the SETH Program in its place. SETH is an acronym for Strength, Empowerment, and Teen Health, which operates as a day treatment program for youths. This program also serves as a nod to the memory of a past patient.