Betty Ford "used the Minnesota model, as Hazelden practiced it, as the framework or the cornerstone of what became the Betty Ford Center," said William Moyers, vice president of public affairs and community relations for the Hazelden Foundation in Center City, Minn.Moyers said he met the First Lady and President Ford in Colorado in the late 1990s.
"She pulled me aside one night ... and she said, 'You know, William, the most important responsibility that you and I and others have is to use our own stories to tell others that everything's going to be OK.' "
Said Moyers, "She's a woman of great stature who developed a problem with addiction. ... It's one thing to be public about your addiction and it's another to be public in your treatment.
"She was a giant in the same way that Hazelden has been a giant. But unlike Hazelden, it was Mrs. Ford's story that so many millions found inspiration in."
PAT PHEIFER
