Stepping Stone Celebrates 40 Years Assisting Women

By David Alexander

Friends gathered. Patrons, volunteers and relatives all laughed and conversed as normal. But what distinguished this night from any other became apparent as the dining table was presented with the timeless signature of celebration - a sheet cake that said "Happy 40th Anniversary."

The evening was arranged to honor the 40 years that Stepping Stone has helped support and assist women with drug and alcohol problems so they can transition to successfully living while sober. The celebration was organized by the group's myriad supporters.

Stepping Stone is located on 10th Avenue in the Richmond District and is part of the San Francisco Women's Rehabilitation Foundation. Jane O'Toole and Alice Blake founded the organization in 1962 in the same Victorian building it resides in today.

O'Toole had come from the Friendly House, the country's first recovery home for female alcoholics. When she moved to San Francisco, she joined Blake and struggled with the challenges alcoholic women dealt with locally. Soon they worked to open their own recovery facility to specifically meet the needs of San Francisco women.

At the time, there was an existing practice of releasing alcoholic women from jail and providing them nothing more than 15 cents for transportation. Without any form of assistance, many of the women went straight back to drinking and many times quickly ended up right back in jail. O'Toole and Blake brought this fact to the attention of then-mayor George Christopher and with his help officially founded Stepping Stone.

Since its founding the organization has assisted more than 900 women.

According to Executive Director Ardis Jerome, "approximately 70 percent of the women we receive have come to Stepping Stone because their lives have become unmanageable."

In addition to the women who enter the home of their own volition, others become residents through Employee Assistance Programs and through Proposition 36. The proposition was passed by California voters two years ago and allows first- and second-time, non-violent, simple drug-possession offenders to receive treatment instead of incarceration.

By providing treatment for Prop. 36 individuals, the organization is eligible to receive state funding, but it has chosen not to accept any.

"We don't want to learn to rely on government funds, because you never know when they will be cut," Jerome said.

Instead, Stepping Stone is privately funded from endowments and contributions. It also receives assistance from numerous volunteers, who provide various services. Some volunteers hold quilt parties to provide each of the 12 beds at Stepping Stone with an extra blanket. In 2001, there was 10,000 hours of community service performed.

In the past two years, since Jerome has become executive director, increased outreach and awareness efforts have resulted in the occupancy at Stepping Stone increasing by 60 percent. The home can accommodate 12 women and a house manager at one time, and tenants stay from six months to a year.

Jerome comes from a marketing background, having worked with Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties, Inc.

Women at Stepping Stone must provide approximately $175 per week for rent and provide a last-month deposit like any other apartment. In return, recovering women receive housing with regular community support groups, several meals a week and weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Although Stepping Stone is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, its overall philosophy and founding principles were based on the self-help program.

Stepping Stone was the site of the first Northern California Women's Meeting, and it is the oldest recovery home for women in Northern California.

"It's been a great achievement," Jerome says of her experiences so far at Stepping Stone. "Very quietly, in a residential neighborhood, hundreds of women have begun the road to recovery."