People with substance use and mental health disorders now have expanded treatment options in Presque Isle.
Aroostook Mental Health Services Inc. marked the opening of its new 18-bed residential treatment facility Friday.
The center replaces a 12-bed Limestone facility known as “The Farm.” As mental health and substance use problems rise, Maine is dealing with a lack of providers and limited space to send people who need treatment. The new facility means more northern Mainers can be treated.
“This represents so much more than bricks and mortar,” said Aroostook Mental Health Services CEO Ellen Bemis. “It represents a commitment to preserving lives.”
Mental health professionals, community leaders and legislators turned out for the grand opening, including U.S. Sen. Susan M. Collins and Gordon Smith, Maine’s director of opioid response.
Renovations to the existing building at 176 Academy Street were funded in part by $1 million in congressionally directed federal funding, secured with support from Collins as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The project also received $600,000 from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and $150,000 from the Health Resources Administration Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, according to AMHC officials.
“It’s important that we focus on rural communities,” Collins said. “Access to treatment is essential to breaking the cycle of addiction.”
Substance abuse and mental health cause heartache for those suffering and their families, and so does the stigma many people associate with such disorders, the senator said. The new facility will reach more Mainers seeking treatment.
The center is an example of what’s being done to make things better for Maine people with substance abuse disorder, said Gordon Smith, Maine’s director of opioid response.
“We’ve never had enough resources to deal with mental health and substance abuse in Aroostook County,” Smith said.
The Presque Isle treatment facility joins recovery centers in Fort Kent, Caribou and Houlton along with two recovery residences in Caribou to help people stay on their recovery journeys, he said.
The center has added a detoxification program for those with substance addictions. Two separate beds will allow those receiving detox treatment to remain separate. There will be on-site nursing staff, and the building has a kitchen and living area, medication management section and handicapped-accessible room.
Jillian Philbrick, recovery coach at Roads 2 Recovery in Caribou, attended the open house. What makes recovery difficult is it’s more than just not using a substance, she said.
“You can stop using, but it doesn’t help you cope,” she said. “You have to know your triggers.”
Philbrick, who has been clean for 5 1/2 years, likened the journey to walking in a field of tall grass. If you’ve walked through it you make a path through it, and it’s easy to keep walking in that same path instead of making a new one.
Recovery is really about the brain learning how to make a different pathway, she said.
Facility staff conducted tours during the open house, and the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce led a ribbon cutting ceremony.
