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Brenda Boetel, Interim Director
City/County Alcohol and Drug Programs
725 N. LaCrosse, Suite 300
Rapid City, SD 57701
Phone: (605) 394-6128
Fax: (605) 394-6890
Map
E-mail CCADP
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| The History of the Friendship House |
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This information was obtained from Doris Reuland who was the administrative assistant at
Friendship House for a period of 16 years. She reports:
Friendship House opened in November 1969 for 8 men in a house on South Street, between West Blvd.
and 11th Street. The house was opened by a group of concerned citizens to include recovering
alcoholics, nuns, and others in the community.
The current building was owned by the Catholic Church. Ray Gunn was hired as the first
house manager and Ann Gunn was hired as a cook. They were the staff.
In 1972 the second floor of the building that is now Friendship House was leased as a half way
house for women. The basement of the building was a day care program and the first floor was a
community clinic.
On the second floor, the dorm on the east end had been a chapel. The closet in this room was
a confessional. The Gunn's lived in what is now the 2nd floor dorm and this was their living
room. The first rooms on both the North and South were also their rooms. It is not known
regarding their kitchen facilities.
Eventually, the Friendship House took over the whole building. Using the room on the West end
of the 1st floor as the kitchen. This room is now a dorm and the kitchen is in the basement.
The existing group room now, was at that time a dining room and where the mural of the Serenity
Prayer is was a large archway from the kitchen to the dining area.
In 1987 there were still watermarks from the flood of 1972 on the walls. At some period,
AIM (American Indian Movement) occupied the building with the permission of the Catholic Church.
In March of 2005, City/County Alcohol Drug Programs took over the facility and maintained the
facility as a ½ way house for male clients. In September 2005, the male Methamphetamine Program
was started. The facility currently maintains treatment and continued care services for 30
male clients.
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