History

Since 1970, Project Turnabout has been providing high quality, affordable addiction treatment services in Granite Falls, Minnesota. It’s serene, natural-prairie campus, dotted with granite outcroppings, today houses 89 patients and a world-class range of chemical dependency and compulsive gambling programs and services. We may well be one of Minnesota’s and the nation’s best kept secrets, quietly helping thousands to realize the gift of recovery. Yet, its history has been anything but quiet.

While recognized as Project Turnabout, unknown to most, our corporate name epitomizes our commitment to those in need: Reverence for Life and Concern for People, Inc.  Officially recognized as a nonprofit charitable foundation in 1971, Reverence for Life and Concern for People, Inc. has established itself through the years as a premier provider of alcohol and drug addiction treatment services, and as one of only a handful of proven inpatient treatment programs for compulsive gambling nationwide.

Viewing Project Turnabout’s immaculate campus today makes it challenging to imagine the humble beginnings from which it grew. Armed with a small five figure government grant, Project Turnabout began providing outpatient and inpatient treatment services at an abandoned sanatorium on the outskirts of Granite Falls.

By 1985, Project Turnabout had completed its first building project and moved into its first facility on the site of its current campus, providing three group rooms, three offices, and room for twelve residents. Outpatient services were also initiated in Marshall, MN. Fraught with financial and operational challenges, Project Turnabout struggled for the next several years. Its survival is testament to the unyielding dedication of its staff and board of directors.

Under the direction of then Executive Director Phil Kelly, Project Turnabout weathered its tribulations, emerging stronger and more focused than ever. In 1989, Project Turnabout opened its second satellite office, offering outpatient treatment services in Redwood Falls, MN.

By 1990, Project Turnabout had formalized its presence in Marshall, building a 16-bed Men’s Halfway House with space for its outpatient services and offices. Around the same time, Project Turnabout was considering requests it was receiving about a need for treatment services for compulsive gamblers.

With the award of a state grant, the Vanguard Compulsive Gambling Program was born in 1992. After several moves to accommodate its rapid growth, a separate facility was eventually constructed on the Granite Falls Campus.

Project Turnabout began its largest building project, to date, in 1995. Existing buildings on campus were remodeled. A new alcohol and drug addiction unit, a separate facility to house the Vanguard Program and recreational and educational facilities were constructed over the course of the next three years.

Less than a year after construction was completed, the unthinkable occurred. A category-F4 tornado struck Granite Falls in July of 2000, virtually obliterating Project Turnabout. While this kind of destruction could well have sealed the fate of many other businesses, Project Turnabout’s basic belief that regardless of how difficult things are, recovery is possible was put into action. Without skipping a beat, Project Turnabout’s programs and services were temporarily relocated to off-campus sites.

With the overwhelming financial and emotional support of businesses and individuals in the community, and the unwavering loyalty and dedication of our unparalleled staff, Project Turnabout was resurrected. Throughout the almost three-year clean-up and reconstruction, Project Turnabout never closed and no one even missed a paycheck.

Its resiliency tested, Project Turnabout reopened its new campus in 2003. Today, it continues on a steady path of growth. Programs have been added, outpatient offices were opened in Redwood Falls and Willmar and a nine-bed transitional-living house was acquired in Willmar, MN. Continuing with the expansion of services to meet the needs of those needing help, Project Turnabout recently added another eight beds to their Halfway House in Marshall, MN. Project Turnabout can accommodate 123 people in our residential treatment and transitional living facilities alone. Project Turnabout also continues to serve more patients on an outpatient treatment plan than inpatient.

The future of Project Turnabout is bright. Throughout its challenges Project Turnabout has demonstrated that recovery is possible. Its resolve to carry that message to its community, coupled with its commitment to make the gift of recovery available to all who need it have only grown stronger and shine more clearly than ever before.