Big Island Substance Abuse Council

In 1964, under the leadership of Reverend Gerald Loweth, the foundation for the Big Island Substance Abuse Council began with the Big Island Committee on Alcoholism. Reverend Loweth came to the Big Island in 1956 to serve as the Rector of Church of the Holy Apostles in Hilo. He recognized that there were no Alcoholic Anonymous groups on the island and began to pull together a group of people willing to see what could be done about the issue of alcoholism on the Big Island. They followed the lead of what was being done in Honolulu and with help of some government funding they established the Big Island Committee on Alcoholism with an office in Hilo. Since Reverend Loweth’s time, the Big Island Committee on Alcoholism grew to become the Big Island Substance Abuse Council. The organization has expanded its scope of services from a small halfway house to a distinguished CARF accredited program addressing substance abuse in general as well as mental health issues. BISAC is now a multi-million dollar organization with a strong commitment to serve the state and Hawai‘i County, continually inspiring individuals and families to reclaim their lives in the wake of the ravages of substance abuse.