A ceremonial wall-signing and “topping-out” celebration took place on July 26 at the construction site for the new Journey to Recovery (JTR) Center, located west of the River People Health Center on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

JTR focuses on innovative addiction treatment for Indigenous patients and is designed to provide a welcoming “home-like” environment where Community members can receive treatment with privacy and dignity.

The new 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Campus of Care will feature 48 sober-living beds (male and female), including 10 detox beds and three crisis stabilization beds.

When the facility is completed in February 2025, the three separate buildings will be connected by exterior covered walkways, evoking historical relationships to ramada or vato spaces.

Building and site elements are designed with sustainability in mind, providing opportunities for both communal gatherings and private reflection in harmony with nature.

Now, at the midway point of construction, the JTR staff invited the Community and JTR patients to come out and write their affirmations and good thoughts on a wall that will be memorialized and sealed forever.

“Having a topping-[out] ceremony, we’re able to sign our intentions on the wall and put all that energy and passion into what we do for the Community,” said JTR practice administrator Nathan “Nate” Velez, PhD. Velez is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and a licensed associate substance abuse counselor (LASAC).

He said that the campus will be all-inclusive with multiple levels of care, including residential care, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient programs and medication-assisted drug treatment programs.

“We have before us something that has never been done in any tribal nation in Arizona or throughout the country, and so we have a unique opportunity to serve in a way that most people don’t,” said Velez. “The complexity of what we do is going to be at the fingertips of ease with the tools, buildings, staff and sophistication that we have.”

At the topping-out ceremony, SRPMIC Vice-President Ricardo Leonard gave the blessing, and Health and Human Services Director Joseph Remitera and HHS Chief Behavioral Health Officer Priscilla Foote addressed the guests in attendance.

“Today is another step in the realization of a mission,” said Foote, who thanked the construction team, project team, contractors, JTR team and Community leaders for working together to create the campus for Community patients.

After signing the wall, Velez guided a few groups on brief tours of the construction site, pointing out where offices, the cafeteria and other rooms will be at the new Journey to Recovery Center.