CAMBRIDGE, Iowa — The biggest project to date from YSS, an Iowa organization that works with at-risk and homeless youth, is just weeks away from opening near Cambridge.
Ember Recovery Campus will help youth battling substance abuse disorder, which includes drugs and alcohol, get back on their feet. 70 teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 24 will live at the facility at a time.
“The Ember Recovery Campus is here to save lives, to give families hope and young people opportunity,” YSS President Andrew Allen told Local 5.
The lodge at the campus really acts as the heart of the nearly $30 million facility. There are classrooms so residents can get caught up on classes and even graduate high school.
“So many young people are behind on school,” Allen said. “Maybe they've dropped out, maybe they don't even think they can graduate.”
Just down the hall sits office space for nurses and therapists to work directly with residents.
“With this space, think about all that it takes in order to create hope and opportunity and really be intentional from a trauma informed, evidence based standpoint,” Allen said.
Right behind the lodge lies three cabins where the teens and young adults will all live.
“Today, if you need treatment as an 18 year old, your roommate might be 60 years old,” Allen said. “Ember Recovery Campus has treatment focused just on young adults.”
The Ember Recovery Campus is nearly complete and will officially open at the end of October.
“There's no doubt in my mind that these young people will leave even more resilient than they were before they got here,” Allen said.