The History of Drug & Alcohol Recovery in the Black Community Part II Featuring Mel Wells, President of ODAAT

Last week in my column, I spotlighted some of the history of how illegal drugs and alcohol abuse devastated many of our families, neighborhoods, and communities. I also spotlighted one leading drug and alcohol recovery program, One Day At A Time, and the history behind One Day At A Time, better known as ODAAT, by many.

Mel Wells is the president of ODAAT. His father, Reverend Henry T. Wells and his mother, Margaret (Mom) Wells, founded ODAAT in 1983.

Last week in my column Mel Well shared the history that his father and mother taught him about the recovery movement in Philadelphia and he shared the history he learned first-hand.

In today’s column, Mel talks about the history ODAAT is making in areas of the City of Philadelphia, such as Kensington.

Mel Wells said, “We’ve actually been rolling out programs in Kensington for a while. Even before we had funding to do so, we were on the ground in Kensington trying to make a difference. When you see the people walking up and down some of the main streets in Kensington that look like zombies, that’s our people, that’s how we look at it. That’s somebody’s mom, dad, son, or daughter.

At Kensington and Allegheny Avenue, we call that “K&A.” We’ve targeted the SEPTA Subway station as a primary location where we can make some impact in Kensington. There have been a lot of overdoses under the subway system at K&A. Some days it’s challenging for people who use SEPTA as their transportation to get past the drug abusers that lay all around at the Septa train stop."