Our Story
The Bayside Marin story started with a vision and a dream. For years founder Perry L. has been a successful businessman. He is an attorney, a licensed building contractor, and a real estate broker. As a Recovering person Perry realized how important and life changing treatment had been in his own life. He had undergone treatment in some of the most prestigious and reputable treatment programs in the country before finding his way into Recovery. Following his last treatment episode, Perry had an epiphany and realized that if he was to enjoy lifelong abstinence then Recovery needed to become the centerpiece of his life. He gained a new understanding of the AA slogan, "You keep what you have by giving it away".
Inspired by his dream he committed himself to creating a new treatment facility that would become the standard by which quality treatment could be measured. He envisioned a breathtakingly beautiful facility that would provide state of the art, compassionate care to suffering addicts and alcoholics. He wanted the facility to be nurturing, healing, and cutting edge. He decided that he would use his skills and resources to create a program that would provide addicts and alcoholics an opportunity to experience the most current clinical techniques, provided by a highly trained staff, in a beautiful and empowering environment without having to sacrifice the standard of living which they are accustomed to. His dream was to build something that would be a healing resource for years to come. Something that would help people Recover from the desperation of addiction. He decided to call the program Bayside Marin.
Perry sought advice from treatment professionals around the country, testing out his theories and ideas. After receiving much encouragement, suggestions, and feedback, he decided to proceed. He realized that even though he was a competent businessman, he was not a clinician or a treatment professional. So he completed California State University's Alcohol and Other Drug Studies Certification Program to improve his understanding of addiction from a treatment prospective.
It appeared that Perry's enthusiasm was contagious and most people who
heard his dream and his vision became excited and wanted to get involved.
Perry began the search for a Clinical Director to develop the treatment
model and put together the clinical team. In many of his discussions the
name Roland Williams kept coming up. Roland is a Master's degree level Addiction
Therapist, teacher, and author and had been the Director of a hospital's
Behavioral Health Department for the previous 15 years. Coincidently,
Roland was teaching while Perry was taking classes at Cal State University. Perry
decided to sign up for the class and unbeknownst to Roland, he was
actually conducting an interview of sorts. Perry appreciated Roland's
teaching style and found his beliefs about addiction and Recovery to be
almost identical to his own. Perry and Roland connected right away and
began to strategize on how to build the ideal treatment program. Roland
brought his own Recovery from addiction and his years of experience in
the treatment industry. Armed with the common bond of Recovery and the
possibilities of a creating such a special place, they spent hours and
hours talking and getting more and more excited about this amazing
project. In a matter of months Bayside Marin began to take shape.
Both Perry and Roland believe that people who struggle with addiction suffer enough in their disease and the treatment program need not serve to cause further suffering. They wanted to make a program available that recognized that Recovery can be accomplished through positive and nurturing techniques in a comfortable and empowering environment.
Roland developed The Bayside Model specifically for the program and began the search for staff that would share the Bayside Marin vision and passion. Together Perry and Roland created a schedule, an atmosphere, and a treatment model that embodies what one should expect of an ideal treatment center. A treatment program that respected the individuality of its clients and honored their right to find their own path to Recovery. Their goal was to create a premier treatment program in one of the most beautiful settings in the world and staff it with great and talented people to provide treatment that was effective, innovative, and respectful.
