Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley, CA
September 16, 2018
At its annual conference (Houston, Texas, October 5-9, 2018) the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) will recognize the late Dr. Davida Coady (April 15, 1938 – May 3, 2018) as the Medical Professional of the Year. The NAADAC Medical Professional of the Year Award is presented to a medical professional who has made an outstanding contribution to the addiction profession.
Dr. Coady was the founder of Options Recovery Services, a ground-breaking addiction treatment center headquartered in Berkeley, CA, that has helped more than 10,000 people get sober.
Dr. Coady completed medical school at Columbia University, spending a semester in Africa and subsequent stints in Haiti and Guatemala. She established medical services in Bangladesh and in India, and in the 1980s became involved in efforts to resist repressive regimes in Central America. By the mid-90s, Davida was working as an ER pediatrician at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. She treated many abused children and noticed “never (seeing) a physically abused child where alcohol or drugs wasn’t involved.” That began her transition to addiction treatment. In 1997 she established Options as a non-profit public service charity. Options expanded its work to the California prison system in 2006, preparing several hundred inmates over the years to become state-certified addiction treatment counselors. In the words of one Options graduate: “Dr. Coady never gave up on people, even after they gave up on themselves.”
Options will honor Dr. Coady at the Davida Coady Walk for Recovery this Sunday, September 16th, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Berkeley (9am coffee; 10am walk; 12pm barbeque).
http://www.optionsrecovery.org (click events/recovery month)