Growing nonprofit helps families overcome substance-abuse issues

An innovative local nonprofit is making global waves with its efforts to reduce substance-abuse-related recidivism and promote the kind of rehabilitation that leads to lasting change.

Founded in 2009, Set Free Alaska is a Christian treatment center that uses a mind-body-spirit approach to recovery from addiction through multi-generational programs that facilitate hope, healing, and resilience. From its humble roots with just a small office and minimal staff, the organization has grown steadily. Today, SFA employs more than 100 staff across four sites in the Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula.

Phil Licht, an ordained minister and Palmer High grad who serves as the organization’s president and CEO, said that since its inception, Set Free Alaska has provided services to clients from more than 60 communities statewide.

“Thanks to generous financial partners like the Mat-Su Health Foundation, Set Free Alaska has grown to be one of the largest providers of substance misuse services in the State of Alaska,” he said. “It is Set Free Alaska’s vision that all Alaskans experience God’s love, lasting freedom, and abundant life.”

The Mat-Su Health Foundation has been a steady supporter of Set Free Alaska since the beginning, granting funds to the organization each year of its existence. A $900,000 grant awarded in May will help SFA expand its capacity further by adding a community center, children’s playground and parking lot to its main campus on Bogard Road, near Wasilla.

Since 2008, the health foundation has invested more than $130 million around the Valley. As part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the health foundation has channeled its share of profit back into the community while helping to ensure the hospital continues to meet the needs of the growing population it serves.

Licht said the latest Mat-Su Health Foundation grant will help transform the current facility into a state-of-the-art therapeutic campus. Expected to be completed next spring, the project will double the capacity of the Children and Families program and increase the Adult Outpatient program by approximately 75 percent.

The current facility is operating at full capacity, and new clients are wait-listed to get into many of the programs.

“This expansion project will greatly improve access to critically needed behavioral health care in Southcentral Alaska,” Licht said. “It will also empower SFA to scale up its comprehensive model to reduce recidivism and criminal activity within a therapeutic campus environment, and enable SFA to increase delivery of counseling, on-site substance-related medical services, and community-based crisis services.”

Licht credited the Mat-Su Health Foundation with improving the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su through targeted services and solutions that have been instrumental in transforming the lives of many in the community.

“The Mat-Su Health Foundation’s value to this community is profound,” Licht said. “Their leadership has inspired collaboration and creativity, driven innovation, and fostered a culture of generosity, laying the groundwork for a thriving future, where every resident has the opportunity to flourish.”

FIND OUT MORE

www.setfreealaska.org