Kristen RemingtonChannel 2 News
The Old Ranch Motel on South Virginia Street in south Reno is where transients used to stop through town and often where drug dealers and addicts met behind closed doors. It was considered a drug haven and the new owners found proof when they bought it last year. "We had to clean up old IV needles, baggies of dope, bottles of whiskey and beer, things like that."
Today, however, you will find a very different place. The Old Ranch Motel is now the Launching Pad; a place where sobriety is respected and where drugs are not tolerated. The Empowerment Center and temporary housing complex is being renovated specifically for people committed to staying sober.
Sandy Finelli is the Executive Director of Launching Pad. She has volunteered with the program since its inception, and became a staff member within the past few years. Sandy knows first-hand the importance of this program. "It was a program much like launching pad that saved my life some 15 years ago. So, I'm really dedicated to this. My heart is in it. I'm passionate about it," explains the former heroin user.
She says Launching Pad is essential after treatment because, "once you've completed treatment, if you're an addict or alcoholic and you've come from that environment, you don't want to go back there because that's a slippery place for recovery. What do you do?"
Launching Pad provides temporary furnished housing for $150 a week and classes to help tenants get back on their feet. Construction crews are also remodeling an industrial kitchen, a computer room, community center, library and offices. The property acquisition and renovation has cost roughly a million dollars. It is largely possible thanks to countless volunteers and private donations.
People like Cara Sutton especially appreciate the community support. Cara is a graduate of the Launching Pad program. She discovered it after her addiction led her to prison. "I was in prison and I was away from my children and I didn't want that. I wanted a new life." So, Launching Pad gave her a scholarship and she hasn't looked back. "It's just a really great program. They have life skills classes here, anything from budgeting to healthy relationships."
That, according to Sandy, is what this program is all about; giving folks a launching pad for a fresh beginning. "We know that it's possible; that we are all redeemable and there are no throw away people."
To learn more about Launching Pad or to make a donation, visit www.launchingpadNV.com
