Treatment facility offers more than 12-step program

One of the Mat-Su’s longest running addiction recovery facilities continues to change lives one day at a time on Point MacKenzie.

Since 1982, Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Services has been serving adults struggling with substance abuse and related disorders. Originally operating from Nugen’s Ranch on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, AARS moved the operation to 116 acres of farmland off Point MacKenzie Road in 2012.

JJ Harrier, director of development, marketing, and communication for AARS, said the nonprofit organization’s goal of helping adults get and stay sober through longer-term treatment services has always been central to its mission.

“The Nugen family built their facility on a working farm with the idea that treatment shouldn’t just be classes and counseling sessions, but a well-rounded work therapy program that includes basic farming and life-skills training,” he said. “Clients have always taken care of their home and the farm that it sits on.”

The program recognizes that the decision to begin a journey toward long-term sobriety can be difficult. To that end, treatment includes individual, family, and group counseling, and frequent recreational, vocational, and educational opportunities that are not all based on the farm.

That mission got a boost in April, when AARS received a $70,000 grant from the Mat-Su Health Foundation to replace an aging van used to transport clients. The new 15-passenger vehicle, which is on its way to the facility now, will allow for reliable transportation between Point MacKenzie and the core area of the borough.

“Clients attend 12-step meetings, recovery events and monthly outings that help build a sense of community,” Harrier said. “Over the past decade, our original vans have burned through a lot of miles. This allows AARS to continue serving its recovery community on a regular basis.”

The recent grant is part of more than $145,000 AARS has received from the health foundation in the last three years. Additional funds helped purchase outpatient transportation and maintenance equipment. It’s also part of more than $130 million the health foundation has invested in the Mat-Su since 2008.

As part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the health foundation has become a significant partner in community health and wellness, while continuing to do its part to ensure that the medical center meets the needs of the Valley’s growing population.

“Without the Mat-Su Health foundation, local treatment centers like AARS would not be able to provide recovery services to Alaskans,” Harrier said. “Foundation support is vastly critical for those who start with nothing and are working hard to start their new lives in recovery.”

The wide array of nonprofit organizations in the Valley, like Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Services, that offer a hand up to underserved segments of the population, demonstrates the value of all those health foundation grants being channeled into the community.

“The Mat-Su Health Foundation understands that community support is the footing many need to achieve their goals,” Harrier said. “Clients of AARS feel that support. It gives them the much-needed boost to achieve at life.”

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https://aarsrecovery.org/