Daybreak Youth Services resident Anthony Yandell, 17, looks out the window while touring the new facility under construction in Brush Prairie on Wednesday morning, Sept. 14, 2016. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
BRUSH PRAIRIE — In many ways, the story of Daybreak Youth Services’ coming inpatient treatment center reflects that of those it serves.
Significant roadblocks. The occasional setback. But with the right people and the right amount of drive, a bright future.
Daybreak Youth Services held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 40-bed facility in Brush Prairie on Wednesday. A crowd of public officials and teens in treatment gathered to celebrate at the 30,000-square-foot building at 11910 N.E. 154th St., which once housed the Bethesda Slavic Church.
“I knew that we need to do something urgently to expand capacity for residential treatment for adolescents in Western Washington,” Daybreak Director Annette Klinefelter told the crowd.
The facility, once it opens early next year, will be the first of its kind in Washington, Klinefelter said. The residential facility will provide treatment for youth struggling with substance abuse and related mental health issues, as well as providing outpatient services and administrative offices for the nonprofit organization.
The project will be paid for in part by a $1.5 million grant approved by the state Legislature last year, as well as a capital fundraising campaign that recently reached $1.5 million of the $2 million it aims to raise in Clark County.
“This community in Southwest Washington is the place to start the first facility of its kind to have a comprehensive continuum of care,” Klinefelter said.
The site replaces Vancouver’s existing 16-bed site, which only serves boys. The new site will serve both girls and boys. Daybreak also operates a 40-bed inpatient facility for girls in Spokane.
Tom Skoro, vice president of Daybreak’s governing board, said the new facility’s added capacity will help save lives in Washington.
“We’re going to be able to make a profound difference,” Skoro said.
Despite a crew of lawmakers symbolically overturning gravel with golden shovels, the ground is already well broken at the former church.
The sanctuary, which was once sloped and filled with pews, is unrecognizable. Crews have gutted the space, filling the ground with aggregate and preparing to pour a concrete floor. The space will become offices and a gymnasium, Klinefelter said.
Hallways due north off the sanctuary are being retrofitted with sleeping quarters and living spaces. It’s in this area, Klinefelter points out, that Daybreak faced one of its most significant challenges to finishing the project. An arsonist — or arsonists — targeted the building in a string of church arsons this spring. Authorities are still searching for the culprit. Klinefelter estimates the fire caused about $175,000 in damage.
Then there were other challenges. Daybreak had to ask Clark County for a zoning change to allow construction to go forward on the property, and several neighbors protested the facility, fearing safety hazards and diminished property values.
But perhaps the story of overcoming obstacles is appropriate for the location, given the uphill battle teens with mental health and substance abuse problems face. Brush Prairie teenager Mattie Otten, who spoke to the crowd, credits Daybreak outpatient services in Vancouver for saving her life. About seven months ago, the 17-year-old recovering alcoholic “went on a very long binge and didn’t sleep or eat for five days.”
She was considering suicide when a friend directed her to Daybreak’s services.
“I see having a future now,” Otten said. “My sight is not solely focused on (alcohol),” she said.
When she thinks of other teens having access to the treatment she received due to the larger facility, Otten smiles.
“I think it’s necessary,” she said, “and beautiful.”
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