DRUG TREATMENT CENTRE COMING TO FORMER IMPAIRED DRIVER FACILITY

A 25 -to 50-bed drug treatment centre should open in St. Louis in
2009.

Teen Challenge Inc., which currently operates a treatment centre in
Allan, Sask., purchased the former Saskatchewan Impaired Driving
Centre last year, said the national director of Teen Challenge Inc.
,George Glover.

The organization operates more than 500 locations in 82
countries.

The drug rehabilitation is a faith-based, 12-month
program.

Anyone of any faith can enter the program.

However, they have to be ready to commit to it.

"There is a great deal of structure and discipline (in the program),"
said Glover.

St. Louis Mayor Roland Petit said council accepted the centre in the
community after a public meeting with Teen Challenge last spring.

Members of council and the public were invited to ask Teen Challenge
representatives questions and speak to the Mayor of Allan about their
centre.

"It was all very well presented," said Petit. "There were a lot of
questions (from the public) and I think most were comfortable with
it."

Petit was particularly impressed with the Teen Challenge screening
process and the policy of making sure patients who leave the program
get transportation to return to their own community.

"No one is left stranded," Petit said.

Other benefits include jobs for people in St. Louis and patients in
the treatment centre volunteering in the community.

Currently the building is going through about $1 million in
renovations and should be ready to open sometime next year, said Glover.

Glover said the program is very successful.

Independent research has shown that more than 70 per cent of Teen
Challenge graduates have remained clean and drug-free, when surveyed
five years after graduation, he said.

In contrast, secular-based programs have less than a 10 per cent cure
rate.

There is a small fee to enter the program but it can be waived if the
young person cannot afford it.

Teen Challenge works with young men and women ages 16 years old and
over who have life-controlling substance abuse problems.

The program is based on Christian principles and provides spiritual,
academic and vocational training. The program operates totally without
government funding.

Teen Challenge is supported by service clubs, community groups,
churches and interested people.

For more information on Teen Challenge, check out www.tcsk.org or call
(306) 664-4673.