Many amazing client transformations were witnessed in 2023. Specifically, one individual entered IOP (Intensive Outpatient program) program after successfully completing VORTC. This client not only completed both IOP and OP, but she also regained custody of her child from OCS and the case was closed with successful reunification, regained her driver’s license, got a car, successfully secured independent living, and gained employment. Just incredible! She demonstrated strong internal commitment to making healthy changes in her life and is now living out her freedoms in conviction and self-discipline, even when facing challenges that felt impossible at the time. She is now interested in possibly pursuing a career in the addiction recovery field.

In 2023 we recognized that due to the unique circumstances of our clients, providing an additional level of care was necessary. The 2.5 Partial Hospitalization Program was successfully launched in August to serve clients whose needs exceeded what 2.1 IOP provided but who also were not necessarily needing residential services and since then there has been steady engagement in 2.5 services. We look forward to continuing to provide individualized treatment approaches and hope to serve even more clients at the 2.5 level in 2024!

The IOP/OP staff is a team of collaborators, innovators, and solution-finders. Implementing the 2.5 level of care into our program has presented some challenges and this team has gone above and beyond to ensure that program requirements are satisfied for clients. Additionally, there has been amazing collaboration among team members to plan for appropriate coverage and provision of necessary services to 2.5 clients. Although this new program has introduced some challenges to this team, it has also strengthened their communication, teamwork, and creativity. IOP/OP at Set Free Alaska are the best in the biz!

In Homer, we were able to establish telehealth options for assessments, admissions, and local drug testing for our fully remote telehealth clients located in the Kenai and Soldotna community. This gives us great hope for the present and future as we can look to expand our service to our clients in the Kenai Peninsula.

It is our mission to provide an early intervention program that addresses the behavioral health needs of children and adolescents by treating trauma, developing healthy coping skills, and enhancing family support and engagement. Our clients can expect to be valued and receive individualized care by combining clinical therapeutic techniques with a “mind-body-spirit” approach.

Driven by the belief that early intervention services will help us break the cycle of substance abuse and mitigate mental health symptoms, our clinicians use trauma informed practices and a variety of evidenced based treatment modalities. This last year we added Circle of Security Parenting groups to assist parents of young children to attune to their child. We also added a Trauma Informed Parenting group to help caregivers better understand their child who has been traumatized as well as a processing group for adolescents who have suffered loss. New modalities such as Trust Based Relational Intervention and The Gottman Method have been incorporated into the program to help the clients establish trusted people and spaces to work through difficulties.  

We continue to partner with other community providers through community outreach and the Drug Endangered Children (DEC) MDT. To support families who are in the process of reunification we continue to partner with Family Infants and Toddlers Court ( FIT) by providing Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)  and other best practices. Therapy dogs are frequently used in sessions and the clients and their families have reported loving them. 

In  2023, Haven has assisted in 20 family reunifications by providing loving, wrap around care.  The staff champion the clients and blended families to adjust to new family dynamics and relationships.  They have also seen foster parents choosing to stay foster parents long term because they have been infused with hope and practical tools to love their new family members extremely well. 

By collaborating with OCS (Office of Children’s Services) and local law enforcement, services are being provided for kids caught in the crosshairs of substance abuse fueled crisis situations and as a result, kids are being saved and receiving the care they need in the moment.  

Every day the staff counsel children who have been abused and trafficked and they comfort the children who have lived through unspeakable loss and trauma.  As a result, they are empowered to tell their story and to be happy and healthy adults despite their horrific circumstances

Clients who are severely depressed have found hope and purpose after going through the program.  The cycle of substance abuse, trauma and death is being replaced by hope, healing, and improved lives.  

Miracles happen here on a regular basis.

We have had a year of blessing at Valley Oaks! Throughout the last year Valley Oaks has been a safe space for almost 50 women to experience love and start their journey of sobriety. Out of those fifty women, five have been reunited with their children during their time in Valley Oaks. Additionally, four moms have experienced pregnancy and childbirth while sober for the first time. How amazing is God! 

We love to celebrate at Valley Oaks!! Birthdays… celebrate! Sobriety milestones… celebrate! Holidays… celebrate! Clients are celebrated on their special days, many of whom remark that they have never been celebrated before coming to Valley Oaks. Ms. Joan, our incredible kitchen coordinator, makes a meal and cake of their choice to allow the clients to experience love and encouragement in the customary ways that most of us take for granted.

Another blessing we have encountered this year is the ability to give gifts to our clients on Christmas through the assistance of amazing community members. The ladies at Valley Oaks are overwhelmed by the love and generosity they receive, and some have shared that they have never felt so cared for during the holidays prior to this year. 

We have established some longevity with an amazing group of volunteers who teach Bible Studies, provide free haircuts, and serve as one-on-mentors to our residents. We have a need for many more volunteers to help our ladies experience healthy, connected relationships with those in our community. Please reach out if you are interested in being part of these wonderful opportunities! 

Clover, our therapy dog, has continued to bring joy, laughter, and light to the facility. She has consistently assisted in creating a calm, safe space for the ladies in difficult and challenging times throughout the year.

Lives are being transformed! We have enjoyed many successful graduations, with clients going on to complete outpatient treatment, reunify with their families, and find stable, fulfilling careers while others entered college or trade schools to help them achieve their dreams. Our graduates are productive, valued members of our community who give back to others, and experience success after success as they are thriving in their newfound freedoms.

To God be the glory… great things He has done!

In 2023, Compass Men’s Residential Program has had the remarkable opportunity to witness our clients consistently overcoming the challenges in front of them.  

We are inspired by the turnarounds, miracles, and the healing of men who are given safety, security, and the resources they need to make introspective adjustments, resulting in positive growth. They gain the ability to seize control of their lives, understand their value and worth and engage bigger dreams that addiction often robs them of. 

Through participation and serving the community we have witnessed individuals discover and resurrect dormant giftings and skills, leading them to become healthy and whole again. Through therapeutic programming they have learned to draw and read, listen, and compose, play instruments and channel creativity as they begin to experience their dreams become reality. These gentlemen did not just learn how to work; they learned how to enjoy living again. Their newfound freedom, health and wholeness is reuniting families and building communities, resulting in a better Alaska for all to experience.

Our amazing staff and volunteers have adapted to a growing world of telehealth service delivery, increased potency in illicit substances, staffing limitations and fluctuations in our available resources. It is abundantly clear that the team of individuals who serve as a team at Compass support the gentlemen in our care and are divinely inspired and passionate about fighting addiction and setting captives free!

An accomplishment we are particularly excited about in 2023 is our capital project expansion on the property – a 24 foot yurt! This private space is a facility where clients can meet with their family, join a volunteer-led Bible study, meditate on spiritual growth and recovery, and participate in family therapy sessions in the near future.

Heritage House, Set Free Alaska’s Recovery Residence program, the only of its kind in Alaska, served over 55 clients in various ways this year.  This innovative therapeutic campus model helped them reframe their negative thought patterns into a more positive outlook that transformed how they think about themselves and others, their view of the world around them and helped them form healthier relationships.  

The program saw its first family (parent and children) move into the housing program together as well as a steady uptick in workforce development and employment.  

Additionally, the residents were able to move into stable housing with some being reunified with their children.  Others were able to complete all their requirements for reobtaining their limited license and others are on track to complete their wellness court cases on time.  These are vital pieces of the process as the residents are working towards their long term goals of recovery. 

The staff found that the clients who were ready to own their recovery and get their life back were able to do so in a timely manner with noticeable transformations.

Our team does a great job placing individuals in treatment/sober housing facilities while doing so on a constantly rotating basis as clients are served for up to 7 days.  

Almost all crisis clients leave our program with the reported crisis resolved and connected to resources that will assist them in mitigating further crisis encounters. In the last year we have met the goal of  employing a kitchen coordinator to ensure our clients are getting the proper nutrition needed during their time in our program. We have also been able to incorporate house policies that make things easier for clients and staff to navigate. People experiencing a crisis are normally in a very dark place and the crisis staff have been able to meet people where they are and show them that they are worthy, loved, and deserve a better life.  Whether they continue treatment with us or another provider, we are blessed to be a part of their recovery journey towards hope, healing, and freedom.

Throughout our second year of providing Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) within Palmer Correctional Center (PCC), we have served 38 incarcerated individuals and been blessed with 22 graduations while the remaining clients continue programming. Summer of 2023 saw the successful launch of Intensive Outpatient Treatment within PCC, of which all participants graduated successfully as a group! RSAT and (Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment (IOPSAT) programming provide a focus on successful re-entry and include activities such as resume writing and mock job interviews.  The clients also are assisted in seeking stable living arrangements and continuing care treatment upon release from custody. We have received feedback from previous clients that our mock interviews helped them be better prepared upon re-entering the workforce. 

Many of our clients remain incarcerated upon completion of our treatment programs. There has been a marked decrease in institutional write-ups amongst our successful graduates that remain within the inmate population. Treatment teaches them that despite their environment, they can be set free from the chains of addiction. 

Our Department of Corrections contracts also serve members of our community who are on Probation or Parole through the Palmer Probation Office. We have provided over 100 Substance Abuse Assessments this year and assisted these individuals in seeking community-based treatment, detox services, housing, and the resources needed to meet their basic needs. This work helps reduce recidivism; the risk of new crimes being committed in our community.  

It takes a certain caliber of person to choose to enter the prisons with the intention of providing hope, healing, and lasting change. We are blessed with a team of individuals that live out Set Free Alaska’s core values daily so that incarcerated individuals can re-enter our community with a sense of value, strength, and integrity.