Birthplace: Memphis
Education: BA Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA
University of Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden , Germany
Licensed Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselor (LADAC)
National Certified Addiction Counselor I
Certified Reality Therapist; William Glasser Institute
Certified Compulsive Gambling Counselor I
Affiliations: Vietnam Veteran
National Association of Addiction Counselors (NAADAC)
Past President of the TN Health Related Licensure Board
Past President of TN Association of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services; TAADAS
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Independent Order of Foresters
Awards/Acknowledgements:
Trezevant Career and Technology Center
Hunter Avenue Missionary Baptist Church
Tennessee Black Health Care Commission
Greater Memphis Interagency Coalition for the Homeless
Youth Empowerment Institute
Alcy/Ball Community Association
Old Timers Baseball Group
Member of the Who’s Who Historical Society
Lifetime Achievement Award West TN Association of Addiction Professionals
TAADAS Lifetime Achievement Award
On the wall of Jacques Tate’s office is a framed Winston Churchill quote “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
As Chief Executive Officer of Harbor House , the state’s oldest non-profit alcohol and drug addiction treatment facility it’s a credo that Tate tries to live by and instill into men he counsels.
Jacques didn’t start out to be a licensed alcohol and drug addiction counselor. He was a gifted baseball player who cut his teeth playing youth baseball in Memphis before being offered a scholarship to attend Southern University in the late 1960’s.
His mother was the first female manager in the WDIA League back in the 50’s and she had a team called the Springdale Warriors. She was his manager. he played for her team for two summers.”
His aspirations for life after college didn’t include plans for the Major Leagues. Instead, they revolved around having a civic -oriented profession.
He really wanted to teach. Like many other people fate steered Jacques in a different direction when he received a offer to enter a management training program with a large retailer. That was too much of an opportunity for a young man who had recently married to pass up. He was still going to try and teach in the school system there. He tried the management training program and he liked it. He forgot about teaching and coaching, after all he could coach little league anytime.
He started his professional life in 1969 working for SS Kress Co. the founder of the K mart stores, which took him to Chicago and Milwaukee. His career progression was broken only by three-year stint in the Army, which drafted him during the Vietnam War era.
He wound up in retail and retail sales, and He was good at it. It was in his blood.”
Along the way his career and personal life got derailed by something that took control of his life; alcohol.
It was during his tenure in Milwaukee; home to several of the nation’s largest breweries, that he realized he might have a problem with alcohol. He eventually sought help and received treatment at a rehab program at the VA in Houston.
While in Houston, he found a new career calling when he made the decision to use his experience for a teaching job of sorts- helping counsel drug and alcohol abusers.
His ability to take his negative experience and move forward after losing what he thought was a successful career in business is a perfect illustration of his favorite Churchill quote.
That journey brought him back to Memphis where he started working at Harbor House in 1991 as a clinical technician then became counselor in training in 1992.
He was given the opportunity to be a counselor at Harbor House. He obtained his licenses as a counselor in 1997. He was later promoted to Senior Counselor and on to Program Director. The Board of Directors appointed Jacques Assistant Executive Director of Harbor House in 1998. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer by the Board in 2003.