ALAMOSA — Ascension Counseling and Transformation and The Rolling Church Ministries announced plans this fall for Healing Hearts Therapeutic Center, a Christian 198-bed center that will provide services for addiction recovery.

The groups have developed a design and are now raising funds for construction.

Ascension Counseling and Transformation owners Sandra Goodwin and Creed de Avanzar have been working with Pastors Danny and Charlie Fox of The Rolling Church Ministries to address the San Luis Valley’s drug problem with a much needed treatment center.

“The San Luis Valley, our community, is a very beautiful place with its sunrises, sunsets and mountain views, but there is a darkness that has fallen on this Valley also. The use of heroin, meth and other drugs has skyrocketed,” Pastor Charlie Fox said. “Along with this increase in drug use, also brings increased prostitution and criminal activity.”

Ascension Counseling and Transformation has been working in the area of drug and alcohol addiction for several years now, in addition to other services the agency provides. They have seen firsthand the toll addiction has taken on the Valley.

Goodwin has spent countless hours putting thoughts and ideas together and working with the architect on the drawings for the building, and de Avanzar has spent many hours in research and going to the Twelfth Judicial Drug Court meetings to bring together plans for what the courts need to see.

The Rolling Church Ministries has been working on the concerns of its clients and what could provide the best course of after care.

The groups pointed out that in the San Luis Valley, the majority of those who are incarcerated have been involved in drugs and alcohol at some level, but the Valley lacks rehab centers. Even the rehabilitation centers that are available outside the Valley are full, and the waiting list to get in for treatment may be a matter of weeks if not months.

“We have seen the tragic outcome of addiction, in death and loss of family, friends and homes. We have struggled with trying to find a rehab facility with an opening for the clients who truly want help, only to be told that no beds are available,” Pastor Charlie Fox said, “or the program is only for 30, 60 or 90 days. We have felt the frustration of knowing that we can only get this many days, and knowing that it takes 120 days for the drugs to get out of their system, to even begin to start thinking clearly, and be able to truly concentrate on getting well, and focus on the rehab needed to start living clean.”

Centers in Colorado that offer full-year treatment are either full with a waiting list or are not accessible because of their requirements or distance.

With that background and research, the two groups developed the idea for Healing Hearts Therapeutic Center to meet the needs of their clients and others in the Valley.

They plan on providing targeted counseling for heroin, meth and other drug and alcohol addictions. Other programs will include: working to reintegrate people transitioning from correctional facilities to become functioning, positive members of the community; assistance to veterans who suffer with PTSD enabling them to receive more immediate assistance to cope and deal with their PTSD; and dedicated beds and housing for human trafficking victims from throughout the state, providing acute counseling and care for their specific needs.

“This building is a truly greatly needed facility to assist our residents in the Valley and community,” Pastor Charlie Fox said.

“We are past the planning stages and are now ready to start on the building stage.”

Donations for the building fund for Healing Hearts Therapeutic Center can be sent to: The Rolling Church Ministries, P.O. Box 452 Monte Vista, Colorado 81144 (a 501c3)

Or to: Ascension Counseling and Transformation LLC, 811 Main Street, Alamosa, Colorado 81101

Please mark donations for the “Building Fund.” Donations for client or general funds may be sent to those addresses as well. There is a GoFundme account also.

Caption: Healing Hearts Therapeutic Center is designed to express a stepping up, a movement from the center toward fulfilling lives in recovery. It suggests the movement of a ship on the ocean or the passage of trains through the Valley. Courtesy artwork