Coster discusses his "conversion" to the self-help model and his experiences managing increasingly complex financial matters in Phoenix House, whose largest sources of income at that time were government contracts. He explains tensions with the New York City government, which resulted in an eviction from Hart Island, among other issues. Coster chronicles the expansion of the organization including how it gained national stature, the various consulting firms it hired, its relationship to Corrections, the maintenance of government donors, and increased medicalization
Trained as an accountant at Syracuse University, Coster came to Phoenix House in 1972 after several years working at New York University. He was hired as one of the first professionally trained staff members, with the expectation that his financial ex pertise would help keep orderly accounts and win trust with state and local governments as Phoenix House split from the Addiction Services Agency. Throughout nearly 20 years at Phoenix House, Coster continued to serve in this capacity as government liaison, and he rose to the position of Executive Vice President after Frank Natale left.
Note
Interviewed by Lance Thurner on April 15, 2015
Note (Provenance)
Ronald Coster, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2016