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Introduction to Hunterdon Drug Awareness Program, Inc.
Hunterdon Drug Awareness Program, Inc. (HDAP) is a state licensed outpatient and intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program located
in Flemington, New Jersey. HDAP also provides prevention education throughout Hunterdon County, and operates
as the Hunterdon County Intoxicated Driver's Resource Center. HDAP is a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and is a registered charity in the State of
New Jersey.[1]
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1977 - 1980: The Lambertville Outreach Center of NARCO
HDAP's first office opened in Lambertville, New Jersey in 1977 when concerned citizens asking for a local substance abuse
treatment option contacted civic leaders in the area. These civic leaders pushed to establish a substance abuse treatment center after Lambertville
and surrounding towns suffered multiple drug-related deaths in the early and mid 1970s. The civic leaders contacted a Trenton, New Jersey based
organization called Narcotic Addicts Rehabilitation Center Organization (NARCO - which later was renamed to the Institute of Human Development and subsequently, and currently, renamed to The John
Brooks Recovery Center). NARCO approached the State of New Jersey, and applied for, and received a $35,000 grant to support substance abuse treatment.
NARCO then used that $35,000[2] to open a satellite office in Lambertville, originally
called the "Lambertville Outreach Center of NARCO".[3]
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1981: Hunterdon Drug Awareness Program, Inc.
In 1980 HDAP separated from, but still remained affiliated with, the parent company NARCO[4] and in 1981
the organization was incorporated as an independent treatment and prevention agency serving Hunterdon County and surrounding areas
under a local Board of Directors.[5] In 1980, HDAP had a staff of 4 people and a budget of $40,900,[6]
and today have a staff of 20 full and part time employees with a budget of $850,000.[7]
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1983 - 2002: Moving, Dealing with a Catastrophe, Rebuilding
As our services expanded, so did area support and interest. In 1984, having outgrown the original office space in Lambertville,
HDAP moved to Flemington, New Jersey.[8] In 1987, they moved again to 8 Main Street in Flemington, which is our current
location.[9] In 1998, the building HDAP occupies experienced a fire, forcing relocation for approximately one year.
This led to a period of difficulty for the organization, which saw instability in location due to the fire and struggled to stabilize financially.
This rebuilding took time but organization continued providing the services for the community and in the midst of this rebuild, a stronger, better treatment and prevention
facility.
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2003 to Present Day
The rebuilding efforts that started around 2002 were caused by the vision and commitment of the HDAP Board of Directors.
They provided the vision and gave the organization the tools to start the process of strengthening. Starting in 2003, services we provide to the community
expanded (e.g., providing both daytime and night-time Intensive Outpatient Treatment), increased the quality of prevention education services we provide in
the school districts throughout the county, increased the quality of treatment services through licensure of staff and facility, and, at capacity, currently can
serve 140 active clients.
HDAP has been holding fundraising events since shortly after its inception. We have been holding annual golf outing fundraisers since 1995, and we have been doing our
residential mailing (which includes our annual newsletter) since 2007. We participate every year at RevGen since it
began in 2005 and we are the only licensed Hunterdon County treatment and prevention agency that has been at RevGen since its inception! RevGen is on an "indefinite hiatus"
starting in 2011, and if it returns, HDAP will be there!
Our website domain (hdap.org) was purchased October 10, 2001, but our website wasn't created until January, 2004. HDAP's website has continued to
expand since its inception, providing not only information about the organization but providing up-to-date information on the latest drug trends (e.g., in 2010 we
created a comprehensive guide to understanding Spice, K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids). We followed this
tremendously popular page (which is updated monthly and has received over 27,000 page views in 2011) with another comprehensive guide to understanding
synthetic stimulants; popularly known as "bath salts". This page has received over 30,000 views in 2011 and has been utilized by many professionals
in the field as the defacto resource regarding this topic.
This page has been so well received that even a website that is "pro-legalization, pro-harm reduction, and anti-stigma" and "agnostic on whether drugs are good or bad, look to gather OBJECTIVE information"
stated that our "bath salts" article is "one of the better "establishment" sites for inforrmation about MDPV ... actually the best I've seen."[11]
In 2010 we also opened up our Facebook page and in 2011 we opened our
Twitter page, so please feel free to stop by and friend and/or follow us!
Our mission states that we will serve all Hunterdon County residents regardless of their ability to pay. This is done through a grant
from the State of New Jersey, a grant from the County of Hunterdon, and a grant from the United Way of Hunterdon County. We also utilize
fundraising, foundation monies, and 3rd party reimbursements. Hunterdon Drug Awareness Program is a 501(c)3, not for profit corporation.
[10]
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Information from this article was gathered from the followings sources:
- Division of Consumer Affairs - Directory of Registered Charities
- Hunterdon County Democrat - November 17, 1977
- Hunterdon County Democrat - October 8, 1990
- Hunterdon County Democrat - February 28, 1980
- Kiriluk-Hill, Renee - "Lambertville chief was ready for 'the worst' -- and it arrived" - Hunterdon County Democrat, August 11, 2005
- Hunterdon County Democrat - February 12, 1981
- Turpin, Craig - "Hunterdon County Nonprofits Carry On, Remain Hopeful" - NJ.com, March 20, 2009
- Hunterdon County Democrat - October 4, 1984
- Hunterdon County Democrat - April 9, 1987
- Hunterdon Drug Awareness Website - September 29, 2010
- EsotericPharma.org statements on Twitter - December 18, 2011 regarding HDAP's "Bath Salts" article, with clarification comments made January 30, 2012.
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Hunterdon Drug Awareness Program, Inc.
8 Main Street, Suite 7
Flemington, NJ 08822
Phone: 1-908-788-1900
Fax: 1-908-788-3836
info@hdap.org
Glenn Duncan, Executive Director
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