SHICKSHINNY, Pa. — The view from Skycam 16 shows wide open space at the Huntington Creek Recovery Center in Shickshinny, with a new focus on helping the younger generation struggling with addiction.
"We see a need across the board. As far as adolescents' services for substance abuse and treatment is concerned, we know it's a critical service that is needed in our community and nationwide," said chief executive officer Bo Hoban.
Up until this month, the detox center served adults and adolescent males. The facility now offers services for young women ages 14 to 21.
Just as quickly as the 12 beds became available, they're now filled.
"It's an underserved population. We're actually pleasantly surprised with the volume of clients we are seeing right away. I don't think anyone of us were prepared for how quickly the adolescent population would expand," said Silas Farrow, clinical services manager.
The facility was able to secure $4.5 million for expansion efforts. State and local leaders got a firsthand look at what the road to recovery looks like.
"One of the things we really believe in here is we want to treat the whole person when they come in. So, we know people come in for substance use treatment rarely struggle with just substance use. They typically struggle with mental health or struggle with familial issues, or they might have experienced trauma in their life," explained Farrow.
"Here at Huntington Creek Recovery Center, we provide a safe and serene setting for people to work on those issues, and we see a need across the board," said Hoban.
Staff and partnering drug and alcohol agencies say addiction was always a local and national problem, but the pandemic brought even more struggles to light.
"During the pandemic, we saw the need increase for adolescent services especially, but all services in general. People were isolated, they didn't know where to turn for help, and we saw an increase in substance-use disorders in general," said Ryan Hogan with Luzerne and Wyoming County Drug and Alcohol Administration.
To keep up with demand, Hunting Creek Recovery Center has more plans to expand in the near future.
Staff says construction for a learning center and other resources is expected to start next year.
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