New Offices Accommodate Growing Daybreak Clientele

When Daybreak of Spokane opened its Valley offices in 1988, administrators at the drug and alcohol treatment center for teenagers say, there was no need for more than a part-time operation.

But after an increasing caseload threatened to burst its office space at the seams, Daybreak packed its things and moved in August from behind U-City North on Main Avenue to 11707 E. Sprague.

The new site houses Daybreak’s administrative headquarters, three counselors’ offices, and a large room for group therapy. Director Tim Smith said he also plans to landscape a patio area next spring for outdoor meetings “We expect to see 20 to 30 kids in here at a time,” said director Tim Smith. “At the old offices, it just wasn’t possible.”

At the old office, Smith said, some of the surrounding businesses weren’t comfortable having kids in substance-abuse programs coming and going, although he said there were rarely problems.

“Having a big group of teens milling about in front of a shopping center, people think there’s trouble brewing,” Smith said. “We have to be sensitive to that.”

Tucked away at the back of the Redwood Plaza, the new offices enable the non-profit counseling center to help kids without disturbing other businesses, Smith said.

Smith estimated Daybreak, which also has treatment centers on the North Side and the South Hill, saw about 150 kids in the Valley last year.

Smith said Daybreak has tried to expand its programs to Valley schools.

Daybreak counselor Francine Smith visits East Valley schools once a week to talk with students who may be having problems. It’s an effort that some school counselors say has been effective.

“We try to use all the treatment programs, but because Daybreak is out in the Valley and they come into the schools, we end up going to them a lot,” said East Valley High School counselor Stevie Hanson.

Students from other Valley schools are also enrolled in Daybreak treatment programs.

The mother of a 17-year-old East Valley High student, who entered the Daybreak program last year, credits the treatment center with confronting her son’s marijuana problem. She said her son has been clean ever since.

“But just because you’re clean for a month doesn’t mean you’re going to stay that way without encouragement,” the woman said.

She said added space for group therapy and extra counselors at the new Valley offices will help provide the support her son needs to stay off drugs.

“The only thing he misses from the old office are the couches,” she said. “He misses the homey atmosphere.”