Several volunteers in the Sundre and Olds area have spent the last year and a half building a house destined for Saskatchewan last week, for people helping teenage boys recover from addiction.
The 1,690-square-foot house left Bergen on Wednesday and was expected to arrive at the Rock Solid Refuge, located northeast of Shaunavon, Sask., a couple of days later.
The refuge was founded by a former Bergen resident in 2005 and has since evolved into a year-long, 24-hour program for teenage boys aged 13 to 18, according to project point man Scott Anderson.
“It's a residential program helping teenage men who struggle with life-controlling issues,” said Anderson.
Dallas Block, who is the founder and CEO of the refuge, was the youth pastor at the Bergen Missionary Church in the late 1990s. He moved to Frontier, Sask., and later started the refuge near Shaunavon.
“They saw a need for helping these youth out who were struggling with drugs and alcohol,” said Anderson.
“And he saw that he needed to be able to take them out of their situation and put them in a different situation away from their lifestyle.”
The program began as a weeklong summer camp, but organizers found it wasn't long enough. A board of directors was formed and it was changed to a year-long program in 2010.
Two years ago Block was in Sundre and was talking with resident Dale Erickson, who owns Dale Erickson Carpentry Ltd., about the refuge. Erickson asked what his greatest needs were at the refuge and Block said staff housing, according to Anderson.
“Dallas and Marla, his wife, had moved into the old farmhouse that was there. It should have been condemned – it didn't have stairs and all the treads. When they moved in they killed over 30 snakes in the house and every spring and fall they deal with snakes,” he said.
“But they're wanting to pour their lives into these kids so they're willing to do what it takes.”
They are now living in a holiday trailer at the site in order to accommodate more staff members.
They will be able to move into the house in the fall, depending on donations. After the house arrives at the location, there is more work to be done, like installing flooring and a heating system.
Volunteers from Central Alberta will be heading to the location to help with the finishing touches, and will join up with a group of people in Saskatchewan who have also been helping along the way.
“It's exciting, it's satisfying. I'm excited for them to have a home,” said Anderson, now that the house is on the move.
“Our aim is to be a blessing to them. We don't want to be a burden. We want to just help them and support the people that are giving so much,” he said.
“Our mission was to build a safe, quality, energy efficient, low maintenance place for the staff.”
People from the Bergen Missionary Church, the Olds First Baptist Church and the McDougal Chapel near Sundre, as well as businesses and individuals from the area helped build the house.
A permit was obtained to build it on the Bergen Missionary Church site and then move it to the refuge in Saskatchewan via truck.
“Everything on the house is donated and it's all volunteer,” said Anderson.
The cost to build the house was around $300,000 – which has all been paid for through donations.
A group of people from the area went out to the Saskatchewan location four years ago and put the foundation in for the main facility, he said.
The Rock Solid Refuge program is also paid for through donations, he noted. There are currently seven boys in the program, and staff members are hoping to move up to 16 – which is what the facility can accommodate – but the number of people depends on donations and staff available. There is a waiting list to attend the program.
“When I was out there putting in the foundation this spring, we had an opportunity to eat the meals with the youth and with the staff there,” he said.
“It's just such a cool experience and so neat meeting them. They're just normal guys, normal kids and they have normal youth fun and all of that, but so many of them have experienced so much pain in their lives.”
Not all of the participants start at the same time in the program, so each of them are at different stages in their recovery, he noted.
“One of the things Dallas told me is ‘I could care less about their happiness in the program, I want to see them find freedom',” he said.
“So to come out the other end, and you do see the joy in their lives and you do see them free. And that makes all of this, well, it's all worthwhile anyway, but that's why we're doing it.”
For more information about the program, visit www.rocksolidrefuge.com or contact Anderson at 403-507-0827 or via email at [email protected].
