CARLTON, Ore. — Portland-based Blanchet House is opening a new facility at its Blanchet Farm location in Carlton, allowing for an expansion of the organization's rural recovery program. The farm program offers an alternative for people who haven't found success in traditional rehab and recovery programs.
The new facility at Blanchet Farm will serve up to 24 men at a time as they work to overcome addiction and homelessness, according to a news release from the nonprofit. Blanchet House held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the site Thursday morning.
The new 14,000-square-foot facility includes offices, a woodshop, a kitchen and dining area, space for job skills education and communal areas that will also serve as meeting sites for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Yamhill County. The building will be powered by solar energy through a grant from Portland General Electric.
Blanchet House already operates a residential recovery program at the farm, but at a much smaller scale — the farm had five residents in the program at the time when the new facility broke ground last summer.
The program includes 8 months of free room and board including clothes and hygiene items, a drug and alcohol-free environment, moderate work duties, onsite case management and 12-step program meetings, according to Blanchet House's website.
Work activities can include gardening, animal care, beekeeping, woodworking, cooking and maintenance. Some of the food produced at the farm is donated to local churches or Blanchet House itself, which primarily serves homeless residents in downtown Portland's Old Town neighborhood.
This story has been updated to correct the number of people the program will be able to serve at a time.
