Narconon Succeeded In First Year
Photo Caption:
First Year
Maryclare Granata, left, Pat Healey and VISTA Volunteer Barbara Barrett at open house for Narconon, a drug rehabilitation center Friday night at the YWCA in New London. Mrs. Granata was honored for her assistance in the program. Healey is head and founder of the program here. (Day Photo)
The Day
New London, Connecticut
July 21, 1973
Narconon Succeeded
NEW LONDON – Pat Healey, the founder of Narconon, proudly points out the drug rehabilitation program he started here got where it is without any money.
Just volunteers.
Not that it didn’t need money. It just wasn’t around.
Nevertheless, Healey said, the system of rehabilitation the program employs – based on communications theories – worked on 17 persons. That was the number that graduated since the program started last July.
Maryclare Granata helped. Mrs. Granata, the director of the YWCA, listened when others were skeptical, Healey said. For this reason, she was honored during the program’s first open house Friday night at the Y.
Ms. Granata participated as an observer in the program’s first classes, which graduated last October.
She also made it possible for the program to use the Y in the beginning. It now uses space at the Legacy Inc., offices on Huntington Street, where Healey is employed as an investigator.
Healey has run the program with VISTA volunteers. He said he will attempt to obtain some financial support for the classes this year. Previous attempts at getting assistance were unsuccessful.
Two officials of other Narconon programs spoke at the open house. They were Brown McKee of Middletown and Ron Haugen of New York.
Haugen outlined his program’s accomplishments in the past year. Haugen stressed drug programs should be dealing increasingly with drug prevention.
The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by a convict at Arizona State Penitentiary.
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