Gray Wolf Ranch

GROWING AND DEVELOPING

by David Lewis, Program Director

With this, our second newsletter, we are preparing to celebrate our first anniversary at Gray Wolf Ranch. Our year has been exhilarating and challenging, and we celebrate with a sense of accomplishment and a sense of optimism. We have already accepted more than forty young men into our recovery program. Referrals have been received from throughout the nation, and we are pleased and proud of our growing reputation. Our staff has also continued to grow, helping us to provide the highest standard in substance abuse treatment. Ritu Goenka, our new weekend counselor, worked and trained at the Hazelden Foundation in Center City, Minnesota, before joining our staff. Alex Borton, a National Outdoor Leadership School instructor, has joined us as our “Trek Tech.” Alex schedules and oversees all of our excursions. Ritu and Alex add strong professionalism to our core team.

As we had hoped, Gray Wolf's wilderness treks have proven to be an important part of our recovery program. During the past year, our residents have explored the interior of the Olympic Peninsula and have also trekked along Washington's striking Pacific Coast.

We have also grown in our community-based services. In April of this year, we launched our volunteer network to provide help with household chores for people in the local community. Besides being beneficial to Port Townsend, the volunteer program has helped our residents to learn basic life skills and to work towards finding regular paid employment.

At Gray Wolf, our recovery program is rigorous and fulfilling, as we challenge our residents to search for inner strength and a commitment to sobriety. Our mission statement has proven to be especially appropriate in that through structure and guidance, young men who receive our medallion have a very good chance of never taking in a mood-altering chemical again.

As we embark on our second year, we look forward to providing more young men with the opportunity to heal, to grow, and to experience life without drugs or alcohol. We hope you enjoy our newsletter and look forward to hearing from you.