POCATELLO – A new nonprofit organization with a vision to bring a substance abuse and mental health facility for youth in high-risk situations to Pocatello is expecting to open its doors to its first clients at the end of the year.

Local couple Guy and Alice Nason have spearheaded the Nason House of Hope, a planned complex in its early stages that will add a 50-bed facility to the Gate City area, providing youth age 11 to 18 access to detox rooms, suicide watch rooms, counseling, behavioral therapy and other essential services.

Currently, the nonprofit has the capacity to take in 12 youth at its location at 772 Fir St, with plans to expand and become classified as a psychiatric treatment facility in the works. While they are working with all the necessary entities to get the larger facility underway, Guy explained they’re glad to be offering comprehensive care and support to struggling youth and families now.

“I've been working on starting this nonprofit for…almost three years and I'm finally to the point of opening,” said Guy, who owns Caring Hearts Assisted Living with Alice. “And we’re just starting…to put our name out there and get into the community and let the community know what we’re offering, what our big plan is, where we’re headed, all those different things.”

To increase awareness and raise funds, the nonprofit is hosting its first ever Family Fun Fall Festival from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 4. Admission is free and the public is invited to don their best Halloween costumes and indulge in a day of pumpkin painting, costume contests, bounce houses, food trucks, scavenger hunts and much more.

The festival will also have a silent auction and a raffle, with the event kicking off on the corner of Olympus Drive and Fairgrounds Road.

Guy explained that what makes the Nason House of Hope stand out from other mental health facilities is that they wanted to make it a “one-stop shop” for youth to receive support. This means in addition to comprehensive care including inpatient and outpatient treatment, the facility will also offer additional resources and services so families won’t have to outsource often.

The plans for the larger facility will include a fully-functioning gym and recreation center, transportation to a CPS holding facility, and even a pre-K-12 accredited private school and a trade school to help teach youth skills they can carry into a successful career and life.

The school, titled Hope Academy, is scheduled to open around the same time as the 12-bed facility while the trade school will be part of the longer-term plans.

Consolidating all that a struggling child would need to heal, progress and thrive in one place is one of the reasons the Nasons wanted to bring a youth substance abuse and mental health facility to Pocatello. Not only would it supply a much-needed center to local teens, but it’ll provide all the services and educational resources they would need without having to travel to far off locations across the state or even across the country.

“The goal is to be able to reach as many (youth) and make it convenient and easily accessible to heal your family as much as possible,” said Guy, who added that many children are being sent to out-of-state facilities due to the lack of centers nearby or manpower to support them locally.

Guy speaks from experience, both as someone who struggled with the criminal justice system during his childhood and as a parent of a child with mental health challenges. He explained that his mother struggled with heavy drug use when he was a child and he himself had also “fallen into that way of heavy drugs and alcohol”.

“It just kind of generated that mindset, right?” he said. “I didn’t know anything different. I didn’t realize there was anything different. And I just lived that life in and out of incarceration.”

After being sent to multiple rehabilitation centers, he was eventually arrested in Idaho and sentenced to a court ordered program in Pocatello.

“By the end of the 18 months, everything clicked. I realized that there was a whole different life,” said Guy. “I had learned success. I’d learned how to money manage. I learned how to have relationships. I learned that there were things out there in the community for me, and I learned there were ways to deal with anger…and then I got dedicated to changing my life and making better choices.”

These experiences gave Guy the motivation to help youth who may be struggling as he once had. His experiences with his daughter were what also pushed him and his wife into opening a facility.

His daughter struggled with mental health and when they took her to get help, the only option was to send her to an inpatient program out-of-state. The option was disheartening to the Nasons, who wanted to be near her as she received the treatment she needed.

“It’s a tough battle to be in because you want to help your child and do whatever you can to help them, right?” he said. “And if you can’t help them in your house, then your only option is to send them (out-of-state).”

He hopes having a local facility will give families in the area more peace of mind when sending their children to get care and will help youth not feel so isolated knowing their loved ones are nearby. In addition, he hopes having educational resources to accompany that care will offer youth a roadmap on how to navigate the workforce and get on track to a successful and healthy life.

Currently, the Nason House of Hope is working on fundraising and finding land to construct the 50-bed facility. Guy also has a five-year goal that will include opening an adult department to put the focus on helping entire families.

“I want it to be based on a family reunification type style,” he said. “That’s typically because usually (with) these kids, mom, dad, aunt and uncle, whoever’s raising them, are struggling as well. That’s pretty typical. So I want to try and really focus on getting the parents help, and getting the kids help…and then guiding them back into society as a whole.”

Guy explained that if everything flows smoothly with the Pocatello facility he would want to open at least four more complexes throughout the state of Idaho to help as many youth as possible.

“If I would have had one of these places when I was 12 or 13 or 14…versus just incarceration (and) lack of guidance, lack of help, I may not have (gone) through the years of trouble I did before I figured it out,” he said. “I would much rather help (youth) on the front end instead of waiting until they just got done with their third or fourth prison term…let’s try and help them now, so they can start their life with all the other 18-year-olds. So that’s my mindset on it.”

For more information about the Nason House of Hope or the festival it’s holding on Oct. 4, visit its website at nasonhouseofhope.org. or its Facebook page.