Move to turn new leaf for Nugen’s Ranch

POINT MacKENZIE — A three-decade collaboration between a unique Valley nonprofit and the business community is evolving to serve a new generation.

Nugen’s Ranch has been the Valley’s only long-term treatment facility for substance abuse since it opened in 1981, a venture that has developed into a unique partnership that benefits its clients and local businesses, said Karen Nugen-Logan. The ranch’s executive director since 1994, Nugen-Logan took over operation of the facility at the intersection of Seward Meridian Parkway and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from her parents, Leonard and Henrietta Nugen.

That familiar location will soon be vacant, however, as Nugen’s Ranch moves into its new $5 million facility at Point MacKenzie. Officials gave the public a preview of the new Nugen’s Ranch at a Saturday grand opening event, and the operation will relocate to its new digs by the end of the month, Nugen-Logan said.

“We knew it was time to really look for a place we could incorporate the farm and get back to the farming roots we had,” she said. “That’s important for treatment. It teaches (clients) a lot about the nurturing process. Farming isn’t a career, but it helps them working with the 12 steps and working with themselves.”

Although the ranch is moving into a new 16,905-square-foot building, its focus is still the same, Nugen-Logan said. It will continue to provide long-term treatment — anywhere from six months to two years — and be a local business partner.

To that end, along with using the farm as a vehicle for treatment, the ranch also sells its surplus at local farmers markets. An on-site thrift store also provides employment for residents as well as a revenue stream for the ranch. As treatment moves forward, staff members help connect clients with the local business community to find jobs.

That partnership has been a beneficial one for Valley Moving and Storage, said owner Dave Hill. For more than a dozen years, the local moving company has tapped Nugen’s Ranch for temporary help.

“When you get caught shorthanded, they typically have someone on hand constantly,” he said. “We’ve been happy with it. Sometimes we just need runners or other help, and a lot of them actually have experience. We’ve brought one or two in over the years as permanent, full-time employees. I have one here right now who’s graduated from there and has been reliable for years.”

Aside from giving people a second chance, Hill said the relationship has been beneficial for his business. Those who go through Nugen’s Ranch are, for the most part, reliable employees and he said he has a better success rate than when he just hired off the street.

“I would say the ratio is 80 percent have potential for rehire or will continue to work over and over again,” Hill said, adding he thinks other Valley businesses could benefit like his has. “I think if they used (the ranch), it would be beneficial for both parties, the employer and the ranch itself.”

Support from the business community “has been extremely important” to the success of the operation, Nugen-Logan said. “They’ve actually embraced the ranch through donations, hiring people who have completed the program. We wouldn’t be here without a lot of the local businesses here. We work with job service, make sure clients have a resume and have interview skills before they leave here.”

The move to Point MacKenzie brings mixed feelings for Nugen-Logan. While the new facility is far superior, there’s a sentimental attachment to the old location.

“I just think it’s sad, but also happy,” she said. “It’s sad there has to be a facility like the ranch because of the addictions in our society. But you know what? We’ve helped quite a few people change and become productive citizens, and that’s very gratifying.”

In fact, during the past 30 years, the ranch has served 2,837 clients, she said. Though not all have been success stories, she admits.

It’s also a far cry from the ranch’s start, which began decades earlier when Leonard and Henrietta Nugen were both alcoholics, their daughter said. They overcame their addictions and went on to turn their home into a halfway house for other recovering addicts. They both worked for Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Services in Anchorage when it started in 1971, then moved to the Valley to start the ranch to provide long-term care.

“I am very proud,” Nugen-Logan said of her family’s legacy. “It’s sad to move, because I like it here, but it’s also exciting because I know this is where the program needs to go to continue to help Alaskans recover from addiction.”

After finishing college in 1986, Nugen-Logan became involved when her mother asked her to fill in temporarily for an absent employee.

“I came to work for my mother because her receptionist had gotten into an accident,” she said. “It was just going to be temporary, and it’s been 25 years now.”

Now the focus for Nugen’s Ranch is its move and another financial challenge to build a greenhouse at the new location. The ranch received $3 million from the sale of part of its current location, which was forced by the state when it needed the land to widen the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Another $2.8 million came from the Mat-Su Health Foundation and $500,000 from the Rasmuson Foundation. But after buying the land and new construction, there’s not enough left for a greenhouse.

“What we do in the greenhouse is important, because we start all our vegetables for the season there, then the excess is sold to the public,” she said.

The greenhouse could cost as much as $600,000, but the ranch’s board of directors is still looking into those costs, Nugen-Logan said.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.