De Paul Youth Treatment Center Poised to Double its Capacity to Help Teens Struggling with Drug, Alcohol Abuse

PORTLAND — The De Paul Youth Treatment Center in northeast Portland has received a grant of $500,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its “Creating Freedom, Building Futures”capital campaign.  The campaign will renovate the center and double its capacity to 40 youth. The foundation’s grant brings the campaign within $600,000 of its $4 million goal.

De Paul is the only residential drug and alcohol treatment program available to youth in northwestern Oregon, regardless of ability to pay for services, and the first youth drug and alcohol treatment program to be funded by the foundation.  

“Drug and alcohol addiction is a chronic disease that contributes to child neglect and abuse, crime and homelessness throughout Oregon. Treatment reduces drug and alcohol use and improves school performance and mental and behavioral health. We are deeply grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for recognizing the need to make compassionate, evidence-based treatment available to more young people,” said Sheila North, executive director.

The foundation’s grant is the fourth half-million dollar gift to the campaign, led by Portland businessman and philanthropist Samuel C. Wheeler. The Meyer Memorial Trust, the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund and Mr. Wheeler have each contributed $500,000. Other major grants have come from the Ann & Bill Swindells Charitable Trust, the Collins Foundation, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the Weyerhaeuser Foundation and an anonymous donor among others.

De Paul Treatment Centers is a nationally accredited, independent non-profit agency funded in part by the Multnomah County Department of Human Resources, Washington County, the state of Oregon and private donations. Incorporated in 1978, De Paul has served over 20,000 adults and youth.  The De Paul Youth Treatment Center is an unlocked facility that offers a structured, strengths-based program of counseling, education and recreation and encourages family involvement in treatment. The on-site De Paul Alternative School serves youth in residential treatment. Outpatient and family counseling services are also offered at the center, located at 4411 NE Emerson Street, Portland.