SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Two vacated nursing home facilities in our area just got the approval to become drug and alcohol treatment centers.
The Scranton Zoning Board gave the green light earlier this week.
Avenues Recovery Center in Lake Ariel is looking to multiply and bring more recovery resources to the area.
One of its outreach coordinators feels this conversion will change a lot.
Mountain View Nursing and Rehabilitation in Scranton is currently an empty building and parking lot after an emergency shutdown in May.
But in the future it could look similar to this, the Avenues Recovery Center in Lake Ariel.
"We would be honored to be in Scranton. It would be my dream to be in the Scranton neighborhoods," stated Avenues Recovery Center Outreach Coordinator Danielle Castrignano.
Avenues Recovery Center is looking to set up two more facilities in the Scranton area.
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They want to convert Harrison House Personal Care Home located in the Hill section and Mountain View into a drug and rehabilitation facility.
"If we can replicate that and continue to build facilities within the area that resemble that model we would have a lot more chance of recovery," explained Castrignano.
Avenues Recovery Center is a detox residential impatient substance use facility with 40 beds that houses men and women.
Mountain View would be a treatment center, with security inside and outside the complex and 24 hours of nursing and support staff.
Castrignano feels the conversion would benefit both worlds.
It would provide more job opportunities from clinical to kitchen staff and create more space for those who want to get clean.
"It's a home like environment, cozy. We are a more intimate facility," added Castrignano.
In long-term recovery herself, castrignano knows what it takes to start over again and she hopes avenues recovery could provide two more opportunities for others to do the same.
"I've been there, I've lived it, I'm here to help, and there are so many other people here to help and avenues would be happy to help anybody in," voiced Castrignano.
Avenues Recovery is waiting on a sale to be finalized in order to convert the nursing homes.
