Housing for single dads in recovery opens in The Dalles

Both agencies randomly drug test the residents, and they are required to keep their places clean, with weekly maintenance checks, said Victor Veloz, regional manager for Bridges to Change.

The program started July 28 with two residents (see related stories), with room for one more. The facility has the on-site house manager’s residence facing the street, and three separate two-story cottages at the rear of the property.

“It’s a big burden off their shoulders to have a place that’s secure and safe,” Veloz said. “Not being on the streets, or couch surfing, or things like that.”

Bridges to Change is “about sobriety,” Veloz said. “We’re helping people that come out of prison, out of jail, off the streets, that are in recovery and trying to live in sobriety and make changes in their life.”

Veloz said of La Casa Vida (The House of Life), “This is close to my heart, because I raised four girls for two years by myself as a single dad and that’s part of this whole thing. There’s not much for single dads to raise their kids, to get kids back in their life, or even partially in their life. And this gives them an opportunity to do that in a stable environment.”

He was in the midst of his 17-year addiction to methamphetamine at that time, and “managed fairly well,” he said, but once his girls were hitting their teens, “it wasn’t a good fit for me. I thought it was best for them to go live with their mom.”

Veloz proposed a program for men in recovery to Mid-Columbia Center for Living (MCCFL).

“They were finding that was part of the population that they were having a hard time serving,” said Steven Seeley, the clinical services manager for the adult mental health and substance use disorder team at MCCFL.

“We thought, ‘If we can get something going for a neglected part of the population, that’s great,’” Seeley said.

“I think Bridges has done a wonderful job,” Seeley said. “That’s what they’re pretty much about: Housing and peer services. I think they provide a great service to this area as well.”

Seeley oversees the programming for the men at La Casa Vida.

MCCFL took over ownership of the property from the La Casa Vida Corp. in 1999, and for years ran transitional housing for people in recovery. The program fell into stagnation during COVID-19, and the residents there moved out.

Program residents attend group and individual counseling through MCCFL.

The program is designed to be one-year transitional housing. Residents don’t pay rent, but they have to remain in treatment and meet maintenance requirements.

“To be able to help people with their housing needs is a huge factor in how successful they’re going to be at trying to complete treatment,” Seeley said.

Seeley said people think drug use is the problem, but drug use is the consequence of the problems people have. “Substances are one of the things that come about as a result of having problems elsewhere in your life.”

The program is still in its first few months, but Seeley said, “It’s working out really well from our perspective. And we’re actually talking to Bridges about getting involved with other houses they have here in a similar capacity.”

Bridges to Change operates four homes in The Dalles. The first one to open, in 2016, is considered permanent housing with permanent residents. The other three are program houses intended for transitional housing.