Rimrock Foundation Dedicates 2 New Buildings

Published on Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

By ZACH BENOIT
Of The Gazette Staff

The Rimrock Foundation on Wednesday dedicated a pair of homes that will be used as a part of its treatment programs.

“Most importantly, it establishes more treatment capacity for individuals who otherwise might not have access to treatment,” said Mona Sumner, Rimrock’s chief operating officer and clinical director. “Anytime we can open up more treatment, that’s good for the state.”

Rimrock Foundation provides addiction treatment services.

The first house, called Ada’s House, is at 624 Ave. D and will be a residential treatment home for as many as eight women. It was a gift to the foundation from three sisters — Saralee, Sandra and Sharon Melnick — who grew up in Billings and whose grandparents, Louis and Ada Melnick, built it in 1954.

“We asked if it could go to help women and they said there was a need for that so it was perfect,” said Sharon Melnick, who now lives in Oregon. “Rimrock’s commitment to community-based treatment far exceeds the narrow scope of what drug and alcohol treatment is.”

The other sober-living home, a duplex at 116 S. 30th St., is called the Enterprise House and already houses five men who are a part of a social enterprise project with the Salvation Army and Rimrock Foundation.

The men work for a composting operation in which the Salvation Army handles the business model and training while Rimrock Foundation provides housing and case management for the employees.

The foundation purchased the home for $168,500 with money from a $300,000 grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which also helped start the composting business.

“We just felt so fortunate,” Sumner said. “It’s less than a block from the Salvation Army operations center so our guys are able to live there and walk to work.”

She said the two homes now give Rimrock Foundation 150 beds for treatment, “which surprises even us.”