Maple Manor, an inpatient treatment facility for drug and alcohol addiction, will call 139 Minard Run Road home at the end of this month.
For the first time in its 44-year history, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Inc. is doubling its capacity to serve more clients struggling with addictions in its inpatient facility, in what was formerly the Heritage Suites at the corner of Minard Run and High Street.
The new Maple Manor expands its capacity from 12 beds to 24.
ADAS’s director, Angela Eckstrom, said the project has been close to two years in the making — and was made possible by nearly $730,000 in grants from various foundations and other sources.
“We have been blessed with generous donations and community support of this project,” she said. “The process started when a need was identified to serve more clients in our area and add long-term treatment as well. There were many hurdles along the way to secure the purchase of the new facility, zoning issues in Bradford Township taking the longest.”
Eckstrom said she was appreciative of the support her agency received from the township supervisors and zoning officials, as well as from residents in the township, during the process of getting approval for the move into the new location.
ADAS had looked at locating in the former school building in Lafayette Township, before deciding on the Minard Run Road location.
The public is invited to an open house at Maple Manor 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Staff and members of ADAS’s board of directors will be on hand during the open house.
Maple Manor had been located in Port Allegany since the 1980s. The inpatient treatment department of ADAS is moving in total from Port Allegany to the new location.
Eckstrom said in recent years the agency has had to send many of the residents of Cameron, Elk and McKean counties to places such as Pittsburgh and Erie to receive long-term treatment.
“Many of the clients we see prefer to be closer to home while in treatment,” she said. “It is easier for their families to visit and attend family counseling sessions.”
With the current state of the opioid epidemic both in the state and nationwide — 10 Pennsylvanians die each day due to drug overdoses — the need to increase treatment beds continues to grow, Eckstrom said.
“When we explained what we were doing and why it is important, private and public donors were understanding and generous,” she said.
Eckstrom explained that the project was made possible through the support of the Stackpole-Hall Foundation, the Hanley Family Foundation Inc., George A. and Margaret Mee Charitable Foundation, Philo and Sarah Blaisdell Foundation, Zippo Manufacturing Co. and the McKean County Department of Human Services.
All of the donors have taken a genuine interest in the project and its progress, Eckstrom said.
“It is amazing to learn how deeply people care about improving the health and wellness of our beloved communities,” she said.
ADAS has had the support of its board of directors and other donors throughout this process. “The hurdles were challenging,” she said, “but knowing that our clients and communities are counting on us to help better the lives of community members struggling with addictions makes it all worth the effort.”
