The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA—Blue Mountain Heart to Heart (BMHTH) has been awarded $500,000 as a capital budget project in the Washington State 2023-24 budget for constructing its first central office.

BMHTH purchased the location west of downtown Walla Walla in 2022. The proposed design of the 6,600-square foot, single-story structure will include BMHTH’s low-barrier substance use disorder (SUD) treatment clinic, several case management offices, a food pantry for clients, law enforcement-assisted diversion (LEAD) office, harm reduction and counseling space, administrative office, and room for a proposed future academic center focusing on SUD programs in rural areas.

“I am incredibly grateful for the support of our state legislative delegation,” said BMHTH Executive Director Everett Maroon. “Senator Dozier, Representative Rude, and Representative Klicker, on behalf of our state legislature, have committed to an investment in our community that prioritizes treatment for some of the most underserved people in our area, and this will make a difference to all of us. This is in line with broad community support for treatment and new ideas in helping people get through addiction at the same time we’ve seen such devastating overdose rates here and across the region.”

Combined with private foundation funding, mortgage support, and federal funding, BMHTH expects to go out for bid on the facility later this summer. The architect for the project is Bill Froemke with ZBA Architecture.

Founded in 1985, BMHTH is a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the health and quality of life for their clients, using evidence-based, high-quality, client-centered harm reduction, clinical, and case management approaches for stigmatized patient populations, including people living with HIV/AIDS and substance use disorder. BMHTH’s service area includes Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and Asotin Counties.