Pictured are Steve and Arianne Scheller.
Submitted photo
FACTORYVILLE – A father/daughter team is working to help those struggling with addiction to get clean and sober and stay that way at Endless Mountains Drug and Alcohol treatment facility in Factoryville.
Their story is both a professional and a personal one.
Steve Scheller got sober when daughter, Arianne Scheller, was 19.
She remembers going to her father’s apartment just to see if he was alive.
“It wasn’t like he was on a bar stool and functioning,” she said. “It was really bad.”
Scheller had forgotten his daughter’s birthday and that was very much unlike him.
“When he forgot my birthday, I knew,” she said. “He was either going to fix it or die.”
When he came to the door, she didn’t even recognize him.
She told him that either he went to treatment or she could no longer be part of his life.
Scheller chose treatment and has been sober ever since.
“He had a little bit of a slip in the first year and then readjusted really fast and hasn’t turned back since,” she said.
Arianne Scheller got a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Scranton and her doctorate (Ph. D.) in Human Development from Marywood University.
She went into private practice and was doing well.
In 2007, her father came to her and asked if she wanted to start a rehabilitation center with him.
“I thought I can’t say no to this,” she said. “I felt like we were meant to do that together.”
They bought a former nursing home and officially opened Endless Mountains five years ago in October. Then are now are putting in an extra 20 beds.
Scheller learned how to bring the business in compliance with state requirements and to deal with political concerns.
“A lot of the people in the community like us, which is rare,” she said. “No one says, ‘I don’t want that in my backyard.’”
The rehab accepts Medicaid.
“A lot of times when patients get to us they are desperate and need legal help,” she said. “I do expert witness testimony for their court cases.”
The program doesn’t accept any violent or sex offenders. Those with criminal charges are limited to low-level drug related offenses.
The program is centered about addressing life trauma experienced by those in recovery.
It also offers 12 step and Smart Recovery, as well as medically assisted treatment.
For both father and daughter, running the rehabilitation center is more than a job.
Steve frequently points out that his profession is construction, but his life and spirit are in recovery.
