Many members of the community were saddened to hear the news last November that Singing Trees Recovery Center –  which had served as a drug detox and rehabilitation center in Southern Humboldt for more than 30 years – was permanently closing its doors. 

Now, after six months of uncertainty about what would happen to the facility, KMUD News recently reported that Singing Trees is set to reopen on Monday, June 12 under the ownership of non-profit Pure Solution Family Services, and will again offer recovery treatment for those in need. 

“We’ve gotten so much support from the community and it’s been really amazing,” Courtney Bell, the new manager of Singing Trees, told the Outpost in a phone interview Friday. “The old owners put their lives into it and they’re really happy that it’s reopening.”  

Bell said that Pure Solutions took over the property in January, but a few setbacks – including the storms, which caused some damage on the property – have delayed the opening from what was originally scheduled. Currently the company is “leasing to own” the property, Bell said. So, Patti Watson’s family still technically owns the property for now, but Pure Solutions is paying it off and is in charge of all of the maintenance and upkeep. 

When interviewed by the Outpost in November, Watson said the two main reasons for the closure were staffing issues and the expensive maintenance of the center’s aging infrastructure. And Bell said that though the owners put in a lot of work to keep the facility operational, there was a lot that had to be done before reopening. Since taking over Singing Trees, the new operators have already replaced the electrical and some of the flooring and completely remodeled the kitchen and the counseling room.

Some sections of the center – like the famous sweat lodge – were in such bad repair that they had to be temporarily closed. So, Bell said, the sweat lodge will not be open for a while, but the staff is working to get it back up and running eventually. Bell added that the community AA and NA meetings that were held on the weekends will also return to the center eventually, but they will not be held immediately. 

As far as the staffing issue, Bell said that this has not been a problem for the new center. Several Pure Solutions staff members, including Bell, have moved over to the recovery center and some of the Singing Trees staff, including chefs and counselors, have been rehired. 

In addition to having some of the same staff, Singing Trees will offer many of the same services as before. The center will still hold 20 beds and offer options for two-week, 30-day, 60-day and 90-day rehabilitation programs. In addition to providing group and one-on-one counseling, the center will also implement some of the holistic healing approaches previously offered, such as yoga classes and spending time in nature. 

Pure Solution Family Services was started by founder Amber Bedell as a nonprofit that offers wraparound services for adopted children and their families in Humboldt, Mendocino and Butte Counties. Though Pure Solution does not usually focus on recovery from substance abuse, it does focus on mental and behavioral health services, which includes addressing problems with addiction and implements holistic approaches to addressing these issues. 

In an interview with KMUD, Bedell said that the taking over Singing Trees was an “amazing universe lineup” and that, after learning that the center had closed, she connected with the owners, who were very supportive of selling the space to someone who planned to reopen it as a recovery center. 

Though there will be many of the same services offered at Singing Trees, Bedell also said that the center will not be as focused on 12-Step recovery programs like NA and AA and will offer “a variety of modalities.” The center will still offer 12-Step materials and utilize some of those approaches, Bedell said, but will take bits from other recovery models and tailor a treatment plan to the individual. 

“It’s just not a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach  — we believe in co-creation and we believe in empowering people,” Bedell told KMUD. Often people know the best what they need, they just don’t often have access or the ability to talk about it without a guide. So we can be that guide.” 

Singing Trees Recovery Center will officially reopen on Monday, June 12. If you are struggling with addiction you can call the center at 707-247-3495.