For years, the existing Thunderbird-Wren Halfway House and Treatment Center has been providing individualized treatment to those suffering from chemical dependency. However, its facility on 4th Avenue West in Duluth is showing its age. The building is over a century old and has long been too small to serve the needs of the community. For the past few years the Minnesota Indian Primary Residential Treatment Center (MIPRTC) has worked with the city of Duluth to identify a new location for the facility. One has now been located in the Morgan Park area, and they plan to break ground in a couple weeks, with plans to open by August of 2019.
KUMD speaks with James W. Mallery II, the Chief Executive Director of the MIPRTC – which operates both the Thunderbird-Wren Halfway House and the Mash-Ka-Wisen Residential Treatment Center in Sawyer, Minnesota – about their plans to double their bed capacity in a more modern facility to better serve those in recovery from chemical addiction.
