When it comes to substance abuse treatment, there aren’t that many options in the Reno area. A new facility called The Differents is looking to change that.
Thursday morning was a ribbon-cutting ceremony with city officials and community members in attendance to highlight what this treatment facility is doing.
Located off of Mt. Rose highway, this luxury substance use treatment facility offers 18,000 square feet for healing and treatment to better help those who deal with substance use issues.
“We need more recovery centers, we need more mental health in this community,” said Mayor Hillary Schieve. “So every time someone puts in the labor of love to get it done, it helps someone else to survive and fight that battle that they fight.
“We all know someone who is suffering from addiction and mental health, we have to be able to get them the services and there’s just not enough in this country. We have to celebrate every time that we are able to do something like this.” 
According to the Washoe County Health District profile from 2019, Washoe County has a higher amount of people per capita who die due to alcohol and substance use compared to the rest of Nevada and the U.S.
Reno doesn’t have many treatment centers available, and the people at The Differents want to make sure that those seeking help don’t need to go too far just to receive the correct treatment.
“Being a woman in recovery and in the sort of scene in Reno, Nevada for quite some time, I actually did go into a treatment facility about seven years ago and the only option I had was to actually go out of state in order to receive the care I needed,” said Lori Windfelt, director of community relations at the facility. “When I heard about this program and this project, I was so excited to be a part of it. Some people have come out of retirement to participate in this.”
With close to 500,000 people living in Washoe County, there are less than 20 rehabilitation centers in the area.
“Nevada, in general, has the lowest amount of treatment centers per capita,” said John Hanrahan, one of the founders at the Differents. “Reno in particular has been going the wrong direction in terms of facilities and options for those in need for quite some time.
“We really wanted to create something that didn’t … exist here but didn’t exist anywhere else. The need within Reno and within the Tahoe Basin, it’s never been at a higher level.”
The center itself has 10 individual rooms as well as a basketball gym and bowling alley. In addition to the inpatient rooms, The Differents offers outpatient treatment, primarily based around first responders.
When someone gets accepted into the program, they will be doing anywhere between five to 18 hours per week for both outpatient and inpatient treatment. For inpatients, the minimum stay is 30 days and can last up to 90.
“One thing for sure that people miss when it comes to having an addiction or substance use problem is the fact that we’re choosing health, we’re choosing life, we’re choosing to thrive,” Windfeldt said. “This is not something that people should be ashamed of, this is not something that society should continue to stigmatize. When people choose to help themselves and their families, it should be celebrated.”
