KIEL – Community conversations looking for solutions to alcohol and drug addiction have often focused on the need for more treatment centers, but a local woman trying to expand her addiction clinic has been stalled by a mix of neighborhood opposition and government red tape.
Susan Beattie opened Pathways to a Better Life, a 15-bed alcohol and drug addiction treatment center in Kiel, a little more than a year ago. The community need for such a facility was immediately apparent, as beds at the facility filled instantly — and Beattie said she struggles with placing patients on waiting lists.
“We get phone calls from family members who are desperate,” Beattie said. “When I can’t say ‘sure come on in’ and have to say ‘we have a bed in three weeks or three months,’ that’s too long when someone is saying, ‘I want help.’”
Situated at the end of a forested drive along Graf Lake, Pathways was designed as remote retreat for recommended three-month substance abuse counseling and recovery.
Beattie wanted to grow since day one to help fill a need in the community, but plans to expand the facility have been stymied by a mix of government red tape, financial constraints, and neighborhood opposition, highlighting the struggle between building a facility needed by the community and the opposition that pops up when you try to find a place to put it.
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Plans to build additional buildings on the 38-acre Pathways site proved difficult since the land consists mostly of wetlands and heavy forest. Beattie would need special permission from the Department of Natural Resources to widen the driveway, and regulations would force her to add an additional driveway — again impacting DNR-regulated wetlands — if she built any more buildings.
State and local permitting would also pose challenges, Beattie said.
The challenges seemingly insurmountable, the plans were shelved and the organization looked elsewhere to expand. A potential home for the expanded business was found 3 miles down the road — but the proposal was met by opposition from neighbors.
Beattie faced similar opposition a year-and-a-half ago when she initially opened Pathways. While the need in the community for such a facility was great, Beattie struggled against opposition to get it built every step of the way.
“We had several town meetings. It was not greeted well,” Beattie said. “However, since then I have spoken with neighbors and everything is peaceful.”
Under the proposal, Pathways would have leased or purchased The Cedars, a restaurant on 5 acres, and built an estimated 10-bed treatment house on the site. The restaurant would have also been reopened by the organization as a way to employ and teach job skills to those in recovery while also providing an alcohol-free establishment for AA meetings or other events.
Neighbors of the site rallied in opposition at town meetings early in September, so Pathways pulled the proposal.
“We would put a facility, a home — just a home, not a hospital — but the appearance to the neighbors was scary,” Beattie said.
Ken Smasal, the Town of Schleswig Plan Commission chairman, said the majority of residents at meetings were concerned the treatment center expanding into their neighborhood would lower property values. Summer cottages also dot Cedar Lake, Smasal said, and residents worried about their kids being around addicts.
“They mentioned a school bus would come down and pick up kids, and there’d be people in rehab all around there, too,” he said. “They didn’t want that to happen, either.”
Hope on the horizon
With the Cedars proposal now shelved, Beattie is turning her attention back to Pathways.
While the neighbors did not want the treatment center in their backyards, several community members have stepped forward since the town meetings and offered to help Beattie navigate the challenges to build on her existing site.
“I have a huge list of hurdles and hopefully we can work something out,” Beattie said. “I’m going to keep pushing. I know it’s needed and I just need to find the right solution.”
With momentum finally picking up, Beattie said she hopes she can find additional help and support from local community, government officals, and area businesses to move the project forward.
“I’m open to new eyes. If anyone has ideas, I’d love to hear them,” Beattie said. “I’m just following God’s word and his path and seeing where he leads me.”
While the expansion to the main business has proven difficult, Beattie found other opportunities to grow. A new detox facility under development by Pathways is slated to open by the end of the year in Waldo — and a nonprofit is being developed to support Pathways and raise awareness about the disease of addiction in the community.
The nonprofit Pathways To A New Life is operated independently from Beattie’s business and will be entirely volunteer-run. Among its programs, the nonprofit will organize a Safe Ride Program for patrons who need a free ride home.
“We have a lot of country bars and people who live in the country,” Beattie said. “Now, that option will be there.”
The nonprofit will also raise funds to help individuals struggling with addiction who don’t have the financial means to seek recovery help. The first fundraiser for the nonprofit, the Rockin’ Recovery Halloween Bash, will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Oct. 29, at the Cedars, 14136 Cedar Lake Road, Kiel.
Meanwhile, the new detox facility in development in Waldo will be dual licensed for detox and treatment, which means a patient receiving detox treatment can move right into recovery treatment until a bed at the main Pathways facility becomes available.
However, while the new detox facility fills a community need, it will also fuel additional need for treatment center beds.
“Residents typically stay less than a week in a detox bed and 60-90 days in a treatment bed,” Beattie said in a Facebook post. “Our current 15 treatment beds would not support 12 residents discharging every week from detox.”
Together, the services begin to answer the community call for addiction facilities, and Beattie hopes momentum continues so she can expand to help others struggling in the community — but she can’t do it alone.
“There’s a demand,” she said. “And there definitely needs to be more supply.”
For more about Pathways, visit pathwaystoabetterlife.com or call 920-894-1374.
Reach Phillip Bock at 920-453-5121, pbock@sheboyganpress.com, or @bockling on Twitter