2nd Chance International Women of Distinction Magazine Final Magazine PDF | Page 4

Dr. Phyllis Cureton
There have been 75 drug
overdose deaths on Staten Island
this year alone according to
District Attorney Michael E.
McMahon's office; that’s 7 more
overdose deaths than was
reported in all of 2015.
Dr. Cureton is in the full front of
this battle as she handles daily
intakes at Samaritan Daytop
Village, the drug and alcohol
treatment facility in Mariners
Harbor, Staten Island, New York.
“The staff works with about 100
clients at a time, but the door is
always open for more”, she
stressed.
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A graduate of Curtis High School and
Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids,
Mich., she holds a doctoral degree and is
a credentialed alcohol and substance
abuse counselor (CASAC) and an
international certified alcohol and drug
counselor (ICADC). Dr. Cureton explained to Emmanuel R.
Wheagar, CEO of the 2nd Chance Women of
Distinction Magazine the magnitude of work and
the direct involvement of President Barrack
Obama as she shares teleconference notes with
him. “He is very involved”, she stressed.
She is also an ordained deacon, serving
with her husband, Tracy, at Mount Sinai
United Christian Church in Tompkinsville. .4
Known affectionately around the building
as "Dr. C," Phyllis Cureton has been a
Staten Islander since the age of 10 and
lives in Mariners Harbor, not too far from
the facility she runs.
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Dr. Cureton gave our staff a tour
of her “State of the Arts” facility
that
encompasses
several
functional rooms and recreational
center designed to provide
maximum support and treatment.
We were introduced to her team
which includes a Medical Doctor,
Psychologists, Social Workers,
licensed Drug Counselors, and
interns.
Heroin and opioid addicts; as
young as 12 and old as 76 have
sat across from Cureton, a
witness every day to Staten
Island's raging drug epidemic.
Strengthened by a recent merger
with the Samaritan Village
network, today's Daytop is
attacking the epidemic head-on.
In addition to drug and alcohol
treatment, the center offers
programs in anger management,
parenting,
vocational
assessment, relapse prevention,
relapse
recovery,
cognitive
behavioral therapy as well as
dialectical behavior therapy which
address borderline personality
disorder. The organization runs
more than 50 programs in the
New York City area serving
veterans, families, the homeless,
the elderly and those struggling
with addiction.
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