Business & Tech
Father Martin's Ashley Enters 30th Year of Service
The Havre de Grace drug and alcohol treatment center has served more than 35,000 people.
A nationally known drug and alcohol treatment facility in Havre de Grace is celebrating a milestone this year.
Father Martin’s Ashley is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Founders Father Joseph C. Martin and Mae Abraham opened the treatment center in 1983 with five patients.
Find out what's happening in Havre de Gracefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Before his death in 2009, Father Martin said he and Abraham joined forces “as business people, not to make money, but to help as many people as we possibly could,” according to an announcement from the organization.
Abraham met Martin at a speaking engagement about alcoholism after her drinking escalated in 1964, according to The New York Times.
Find out what's happening in Havre de Gracefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
She proposed founding a treatment center where Martin's teachings and knowledge would live on, and they began raising money for the endeavor in the 1970s, The Times reported.
“I had a son that was 8 years old when I got sober," Abraham said during a January lunch to honor the center's founders. "I know the harm my addiction caused him in his life and I wanted to save everyone I could from going through the same things."
As of 2013, the center has 85 beds. It plans to expand to 100 beds, pending approval from the Harford County Board of Appeals.
From its 148-acre campus in Havre de Grace, the center for healing has served more than 35,000 individuals and their families affected by alcohol and drug addiction.
Since Ashley’s early days, it has added these programs and specialties:
- Relapse treatment
- Family program
- Children and youth program
- Young adult track
- Gender-responsive treatment
- Pain recovery program (for those with chronic pain addicted to pain medication)
Now, Father Martin’s Ashley is celebrating its 30th year with a number of special events.
On Feb. 13, it sponsored a Baltimore visit from Jerry Moe, vice president and national director of children’s programs at the Betty Ford Center.
Its annual "Women in Recovery Luncheon" is May 16 and the golf tournament is Oct. 4. See the entire Father Martin's Ashley calendar of events.
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