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www.sdbj.com

SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL

June 30, 2014

81-Year-Old Still Sharing Lessons of Her 57 Years of Sobriety

At 81 years old,
Jeanne McAlister
still manages
the day-to-day
duties as founder
and CEO of the
McAlister Institute,
a substance abuse
KUDOS/GIVING
and recovery center
that has 150 staff
Stephanie R. Glidden
members who help
more than 2,500 adults and teens every
month. I recently had the privilege of
visiting with this remarkable woman.
Upon entering the center in El
Cajon, the headquarters for the
institute, McAlisters personality and
spirit is palpable. She came bounding
down the stairs and greeted me with
the energy of someone half her age.
Following close behind her were her
three West Highland White Terriers,
one 11 years old nearly McAllisters
age in dog years and two adorable
puppies.
I could leave them in my apartment
downtown, but why? she said.
McAlister is a recovering addict who
struggled with substance abuse for
more than 10 years. I started drinking
when I was 15, and by the time I was
24, I was almost dead, she said.
She said alcoholism was not
understood in 1957 and particularly
not accepted when you were a young

Photo courtesy of the McAlister Institute

Jeanne McAlister is pictured two years ago

with a sign indicating her days of sobriety.

woman. Fortunately, she met the right

people at the right time and was able
to regain control of her life. McAlister
celebrates her 57th year of sobriety this
year, and she has dedicated herself to
helping others trying to do the same.
McAlisters journey to this position
is remarkable. After a series of what
she calls straight jobs, McAlister
immersed herself in the human
potential movement in the early 1970s.
She went to workshops and retreats
and got to know many influential
people like Eric Burne, the creator of
Transactional Analysis, got involved
in Gestalt Therapy and transitioned to

INDEX

These indexes list the people, businesses, associations, organizations,

etc., that are named in this weeks issue. The numbers refer to the page
on which the name is found.

PEOPLE
Katie Alfrey................................... 16
Jay Arnett..................................... 19
Kennon Baldwin........................... 55
Gary Beck..................................... 25
Randy Beck.................................. 25
Wendy Behan............................... 27
Brad Black.................................... 19
Juanita Brooks............................. 27

ORGANIZATIONS
A
AleSmith Brewing Co. Inc............ 24
Alexandria Real Estate
Equities Inc.................................. 55
Allergan Inc.................................. 28
AmericanWest Bank....................... 8
Ark Animal Health Inc.................. 12
Austin Ventures............................ 11
Aztec Shops Ltd............................. 6
B
Balfour Beatty Construction........... 6
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits.... 24
BIO................................................. 3
BioMed Realty Trust Inc............... 55
BioMed Ventures.......................... 55
Black Sand Technologies Inc........ 11
BST Nano Carbon........................... 1
Building Homes for Heroes.......... 10
C
California Public
Utilities Commission.................... 12
California State
University, Northridge.................. 32
California Western School of Law.... 30
California Women Lawyers.......... 30
Carlsbad Aquafarm Inc................... 1
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.... 16
Carlsbad Mineral Water Spa......... 16
Casey Gerry Schenk
Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP.... 30
Cassidy Turley.............................. 18
CBRE Group Inc....................... 3, 18
CDC Commercial Inc.................... 18
CDC Small Business Finance........ 10
Charlotte Russe Inc...................... 18
Chicago Innovators Exchange........ 7
Cisco Systems Inc......................... 7

Mark Cafferty................................. 3
Martin Caniff................................ 13
Kurt Chilcott................................. 10
John Chu...................................... 18
Bob Coleman................................ 10
Brian Cooper.................................. 3
Carey Cooper............................... 27
Tim Cowden................................. 19
Sean Curtis.................................... 3
Roy Dalton................................... 12

Citizens Business Bank.................. 8

City Heights Community
Development Corp....................... 19
City National Bank........................ 13
Coffee Ambassador........................ 3
Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage.................. 16
Colliers International.................... 19
Comcast Corp.............................. 19
Commercial Real Estate Women.... 3
CommNexus.................................. 7
CoStar Group............................... 18
Cura Coffee Co............................... 3
Cushman & Wakefield Inc............ 18
CVB Financial Corp......................... 8
C.W. Driver..................................... 6
Cypress Office Properties LLC..... 18
D
Dallas Cowboys.............................. 4
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club........... 1
Dominion Exploration
& Production................................ 13
DPR Construction........................ 18
DRA Advisors LLC....................... 18
E
EDF Renewable Energy................ 13
Energy Liberty Corp..................... 32
ERISS Corp.................................. 14
ESPN Inc...................................... 11
Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa........ 3
Excel Trust Inc............................. 19
F
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp..... 3
Ferguson Pape
Baldwin Architects....................... 55
Fish & Richardson....................... 28
Fordham Law School................... 28
Fresenius Medical Care AG
& Co. KGaA.................................. 28

conducting groups in her own home.

She realized this was what she wanted
to do with her life and pursued that
goal with a passion. She worked with
Dr. Tom Rusk, author of many books,
most notably Treat Your Ego in Four
Hours.
Rusk held the contract with San
Diego County for treatment programs
for drugs and alcohol. McAlister said
that at some point he got tired of
dealing with the county and backed
out. McAlister had a center in El Cajon
working with hundreds of people,
and her friend Charles OLeary had a
similar number of people in a center in
North County, and they didnt know
what to do. After much discussion
and a personal financial investment by
McAlister, the McAlister Institute was
born.
So here I am 37 years later, she said.
The nonprofit now has more than 27
programs representing a continuum of
care that spans prevention, outreach,
intervention, deferred entry programs,
outpatient treatment and sober living.
In 1981, she created Kiva Learning
Center for Women and Children
the countys first and the nations fifth
program to let women live with their
children in a safe, instructive and
supportive environment while they
received treatment. In 1991, McAlister
championed group homes, which still

represent Californias only nonmedical

residential detox for adolescents. Last
year, she was funded by the San Diego
County Health and Human Services
Agency to help combat teen substance
abuse and now provides free drug
testing for teens.
There is so much more to say about
what McAlister has accomplished
and her frustrations regarding the
complications with funding and the
regulations on how long the Institute
can treat people and under what
circumstances. In particular, she
described how different it is today.
The drugs are much more serious and
relatively easy to get.
McAlister said the most important
point about her work is that the
McAlister Institute treats the whole
person. It isnt just about alcohol and
drugs; its often a more deep-seated
issue. Now, McAlister said the issues
are much more complex and that often
the reason for the abuse is that people
are self-medicating for serious mental
health issues. She said its wrong to
treat a person and send them back in
three weeks to the environment that
brought them there.
Thank God we get to see some
miracles because the work is hard these
days, she said.
Please send Kudos/Giving items to
sglidden@sdbj.com.

John Davis................................... 14
Walter Davis................................... 7
Raphael Declercq......................... 13
Michael Dorris.............................. 55
Brian Driscoll............................... 18
Ryan Egli........................................ 3
Thomas Fitzpatrick......................... 3
Minos Generales.......................... 28
Mark Gosselin.............................. 18
Ralph Greenspan............................ 3
Thomas Grimm.............................. 1
David Hale...................................... 3
Dixie Hall...................................... 18
Joe Harper..................................... 1
Roger Hedgecock........................... 3
John Higgins................................ 12
Mike Hoeck.................................. 19
Robert Holden.............................. 18

Nancy Hong................................. 55
Jamie Hopkins............................. 16
Maria Hughes............................... 10
Mike Jara..................................... 18
Don Kent...................................... 14
David Kim.................................... 19
John Klinedinst............................ 32
Robert Kornegay............................ 3
Maria Kunac................................. 10
Peter Leparulo.............................. 12
Joshua Lopez............................... 10
Jeff Lunsford.................................. 3
Alex Mashinsky............................ 12
Brian McClendon.......................... 10
Dennis McGinn............................ 11
Frank Mercardante....................... 10
Portia Metras............................... 16
Scott Minto.................................. 55

Kevin Mulhern.............................. 18
Christopher Myers......................... 8
Job Nelson................................... 13
Barack Obama................................ 3
Ira Opper...................................... 11
Ted Owen..................................... 16
Jennifer Pace................................. 4
Rob Pace........................................ 4
Michael Pancer............................ 28
Neva Parker.................................. 24
Scott Parker................................. 10
Rachel Parsons............................ 18
Kyle Pinkalla................................. 18
Rick Reeder.................................. 18
Paul Rodeno.................................. 8
Ed Rosen...................................... 18
Rick Sanborn................................. 3
Bob Schulz..................................... 6

Mike Siciliano................................. 4
Tyler Sinks................................... 18
Barbara Curtis Smalley................... 3
Paul Smithers.............................. 25
John Stafford............................... 13
Richard Tambone......................... 25
Brad Tecca................................... 18
Mike Valenti................................. 10
Sanjiv Wadhwani.......................... 11
Chris White.................................. 24
Lisa White.................................... 24
Edward Bennett Williams............. 28
Michele Yoshioka........................... 7
Lorie Zapf..................................... 13
Don Zech...................................... 18
Nick Zech..................................... 18

G
Go-Biz.......................................... 25
Golden Shore............................... 14
Goldman Sachs & Co..................... 4
Goodsnitch..................................... 4
Google Inc...................................... 4
Graves Avenue LLC...................... 18
Green Flash Brewing Co............... 24

LPL Financial Inc.......................... 18

Lusardi Construction Co................ 6

Regency Centers Corp................. 19

Retail Opportunity
Investments Corp......................... 18
Roche........................................... 13
Roku Inc...................................... 11

T
TA Associates Realty.................... 18
T.B. Penick & Sons Inc................... 6
T-C Stonecrest LLC...................... 19
Tealium.......................................... 3
Team Metro.................................. 16
Tearlab Corp................................. 18
TG Therapeutics Inc..................... 12
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.......... 4
The Salvation Army USA................ 4
3M Co.......................................... 28
Twin Inns..................................... 16

H
Hale BioPharma Ventures.............. 3
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc.......... 13
Happy Hour Pal.............................. 3
Harte-Hanks Intelligence Inc........ 18
Harvard University....................... 28
HCP Life Science Estates Inc....... 55
Hines............................................ 18
Hubbs-SeaWorld
Research Institute........................ 14
I
Intel Corp..................................... 11
International Council on
World Affairs................................ 28
IO Semiconductor Inc.................... 7
Irvine Co.................................. 7, 18
J
JLL................................................. 3
Johnson Favaro Architects........... 19
JPMorgan Chase & Co................. 10
K
KFMB............................................. 3
Kilroy Realty Corp........................ 18
Klinedinst PC................................ 32
Kodak........................................... 25
L
LEGOLAND................................... 16
LG Electronics Inc........................ 28
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc......... 12
LISC San Diego............................ 19

M
Maritime Alliance......................... 14
Mayo Clinic.................................. 28
MD Revolution Inc......................... 7
Merck & Co. Inc........................... 55
Mesa College.................................. 6
Microsoft Corp............................. 28
Mitek Systems............................. 11
Morgan Stanley
Wealth Management.................... 11
Mountain View Villas LP.............. 18
N
National Association of Realtors... 16
National Science and
Technology Council...................... 14
NBC.............................................. 55
NBC 7 San Diego.......................... 19
NBCUniversal Media LLC............. 19
NCR Corp..................................... 11
North Bridge Venture Partners..... 11
Novatel Wireless Inc.................... 12
O
OneAmerica Financial
Partners Inc................................. 13
P
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.............. 13
Palomar College............................. 6
ParkerVision Inc........................... 12
Patrick Henry High School............. 6
Pfizer Inc...................................... 55
Poseidon Resources LP............... 14
Property West Residential............ 18
Q
Qualcomm Inc.................... 7, 11, 12
R
Raytheon Co................................ 18

S
Samsung...................................... 11
San Diego City Council................. 24
San Diego Military
Advisory Council.......................... 11
San Diego Padres........................... 4
San Diego Private Bank................ 10
San Diego Regional
Economic Corp............................ 14
San Diego Regional Economic
Development Corp......................... 3
San Diego
State University............ 6, 10, 28, 55
San Diego Unified School District..... 6
San Diego Venture Group.............. 3
San Diego Workforce
Partnership.................................. 14
San Marcos High School................ 6
S.B. Restaurant Co....................... 18
SCP.............................................. 25
Scripps Terrace Apartment
Homes LP.................................... 18
Seacoast Commerce Bank............. 3
Sensus......................................... 13
Servpro........................................ 32
Shelby.......................................... 25
Silverado Canyon Partners........... 18
Silverado Scripps Terrace LLC..... 18
Solekai Systems........................... 13
Solera Wireless............................ 18
Sorrento Therapeutics Inc............ 12
Southwestern College.................... 6
Stifel Nicolaus & Co..................... 11
Sundt Construction Inc............ 6, 19

U
U-Haul.......................................... 32
University of California, Davis... 19, 24
University of California, Merced... 19
University of California,
San Diego............................ 3, 6, 24
University of California,
Santa Barbara.............................. 30
U.S. Green Building Council........... 6
V
Vaporvue...................................... 11
Vibra Bank.................................... 10
W
Washington & Lee University
School of Law.............................. 32
Western Center on
Law & Poverty............................. 28
White Labs Inc............................... 1
Whole Foods Markets Inc.............. 8
Windermere Real Estate SoCal..... 16
Y
Yale Law School........................... 28
Yelp Inc.......................................... 4