About Us

The La Sima Foundation, Inc. is a grassroots, community-based organization (CBO) founded in June 1995 by its current executive director, Paul E. Clarkson, to provide outpatient substance abuse treatment and HIV prevention interventions, counseling and treatment services to residents in the southern sector of Dallas County, Texas. Our mission is to assist in the restoration of African American and other families that have been impacted by HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse and Violence. We accomplish our mission through programs of advocacy, counseling, treatment, health promotion, prevention and intervention activities.

La Sima is governed by a seven-member board of directors and staff committed, credentialed, and qualified professionals, which are predominantly African American, that are dedicated to the agency's mission and purpose. The board and staff of La Sima share responsibility for developing strategies and the tactical implementation of plans and programs to address the issues of substance abuse and HIV in the communities served by the agency.

La Sima currently provides substance abuse treatment services to ex-offenders and other high-risk individuals in the southern sector of Dallas, County. La Sima has provided these services for the community for the past 13 years. La Sima is currently working in collaboration with the UT Southwestern "Youth Angle" project providing case finding and outreach services to youth between the ages of 14 and 25.

Over the past several years, La Sima has successfully developed and implemented several programs to address the twin epidemics of substance abuse and HIV in the minority communities of Dallas. The projects included the "Imani Project," a five-year project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA-CSAT) which integrated substance abuse treatment and HIV services; "Project 216," a Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) HIV prevention project; the "Syphilis Elimination Project," another project funded by DSHS (program). and the original SANKOFA project, which was funded by SAMHSA through its Minority AIDS Initiative in 1999. La Sima has been a champion (involved) in HIV prevention and substance abuse treatment activities since the agency's inception in 1995.

La Sima is currently developing a series of Offender Education programs that will be fully operational January 2009. These programs include DWI education and DWI Intervention Program, Drug Offender Education and Minors in Possession program. La Sima will continue to provide out-patient substance abuse treatment services, transitional housing and HIV prevention services.