Prairie Miracles Forward

   There is a harsh and relentless wind that blows across Northwestern Kansas! 
In the winter it drives snow, sleet, and ice pellets so hard that they almost 
penetrate any protective clothing worn by the brave and hardy souls living in 
this section of our country. And the summer wind is more like the opening of a 
blast furnace door than a cool refreshing breeze. To be from or to want to live 
in Northwestern Kansas, you have to want to, and you need to believe in miracles 
and to be committed to making miracles happen in your life and in the lives of 
those around you.

   The winds in Kansas are so cruel that they often cause people to walk at an 
angle just to move forward. Yet in 1967, those same winds conspired or perhaps 
serendipitously brought together some ideas and experiences from North Dakota, 
Minnesota, and a few other places and mixed them with an urgency and a compelling 
compassion that had been percolating in Northwestern Kansas for a few years. 
That combination, along with the absolute "desire to help," resulted in the 
formation of the Valley Hope Association.

   Valley Hope Association ended up in Norton, Kansas, an unlikely location for a 
major corporation committed to providing addiction treatment, because no one else 
wanted to get involved or to be associated with this new venture to 
"love people into recovery." The story of Valley Hope Association is an unlikely 
story; by all rights, it should never have happened. There were too many obstacles, 
there were too many reasons to give up, there was just too much harsh wind blowing 
across the plains of Northwestern Kansas. But it did happen! Not only did it happen, 
but it became an association that soon was being requested to help communities in 
surrounding states to set up programs to help the alcoholic and persons addicted to 
drugs so that they would not have to travel five hundred or more miles to Norton 
for treatment. The miracle happened in Norton and then it happened in Atchison and 
before anyone knew what was happening the miracle was being repeated in Kansas City; 
Cushing,Oklahoma; O'Neill, Nebraska; Boonville, Missouri; Chandler, Arizona; Grapevine, 
Texas, and many other places as nine residential centers and seventeen outpatient 
centers were opened. All of these locations had one thing in common: the belief that it 
was possible- even preferable-to love someone with the disease of addiction back to health.

   Over the years since 1967, Valley Hope Association also has discovered that this 
harsh wind that just beat some people to the ground could be mitigated with love 
and with the expectation that miracles might and could happen. 
Because of this, some persons who arrived for treatment in Norton or one of the other 
treatment centers often decided that they wanted to stay, they wanted to be part of 
this incredible story. Some of those persons now hold key positions in individual 
treatment programs or within the corporate staff of Valley Hope Association. Not only 
does Valley Hope provide shelter from the devastating wind and the disease of addiction, 
but they have provided a home and hope tomany of these same persons who now are part 
of the "loving back to health" that takes place through VHA.

   Since the early beginnings of Valley Hope Association, its leaders have made 
themselves available to share their insight, vision, and commitment with many other 
programs across the country. In aligning themselves with the National Association of 
Addiction Treatment Providers, Valley Hope Association has provided consultation, 
presentations, and support to many treatment centers. Two of the three chief executives 
from Valley Hope Association have served on the board of directors of NAATP and one, 
Dennis Gilhousen, served as the chair of the NAATP board. Because of Valley Hope, the 
winds of Northwestern Kansas are not quite as harsh and not quite as terrifying 
as they would be without VHA.

   As you read this history, allow yourself to hear the voices, feel the passion, 
live the dream, and begin to look around for miracles. They believe they happen all 
the time, and they have some stories to share with you that will get you to expect them 
as well. This is more than history; this is a miracle that it ever happened and 
a greater miracle that it continues to happen, day after day after day.

   Ronald J Hunsicker, D.Min., FACATA
   President and Chief Executive Officer
National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers