Spokane Valley youth campus plans get gala support

Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations is preparing a long-term expansion of its 55-acre Spokane Valley campus. Established in 1986, the organization offers behavioral health and substance use care shaped by culture. Its patients are 13 to 17 years old, come from Native and non-Native backgrounds, and are primarily from the Pacific Northwest. The lodge is the Northwest’s sole Youth Regional Treatment Center and one of 13 nationwide.

The first construction phase would add a boys’ dormitory, giving male residents a separate area devoted to recovery. Girls would then occupy the existing dormitory, where residents now share one building divided into three sections—two for boys and one for girls. The lodge currently can accommodate 15 girls. Leaders say female applicants have faced longer waits, and the new arrangement would double girls’ capacity while helping courts place youths without encountering a waitlist.

Friday’s A Path to Wellness gala at Spokane’s Pergola Event Venue will support the capital campaign. Guests can hear speakers and Tony Louie, join live and silent auctions, and watch a video featuring two former residents discussing recovery and the lodge’s role. Proceeds are intended to increase space for youths and families, make treatment more accessible, and support culturally based healing. Inpatient cultural activities include hand drumming and making music. A second gala is scheduled for Nov. 20 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle.