Odyssey House gives Fairview, Claire House a fresh start

BAYOU VISTA – Monday’s ribbon-cutting wasn’t quite a grand opening. It was more of a fresh start for a facility that specializes in giving people a fresh start.

Officials cut the ceremonial ribbon Monday to mark the opening of Odyssey House Louisiana Bayou Vista. The same Southeast Boulevard campus houses Fairview Treatment Center, a residential substance abuse treatment center for adults; Claire House, a residential treatment facility where women with substance abuse disorders can bring children up to 10 years old with them; and St. Mary Parish’s drug court.

On hand for the ribbon-cutting were U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette; state Reps. Vincent St. Blanc, R-Franklin, and Beryl Amedee, R-Gray; and Baldwin Mayor Clarence Vappie.

“It’s a definite positive for us parishwide,” Vappie said. “There’s no place excluded from problems with substance abuse, even small towns. Maybe especially small towns.”

Sixteenth Judicial District Judge Anthony Saleme of Morgan City, agreed. Since January, he has been St. Mary’s Drug Court judge.

“This is invaluable,” Saleme said, “to have this locally, to have patients here, to not have to transport people out of the area.”

The St. Mary Parish Council approved an ordinance in June 2022 effectively hiring Odyssey House to run Fairview Treatment Center and Claire House.

Odyssey House Louisiana runs a group of centers in the New Orleans area with the goal of empowering “individuals to become active participants in their treatment and recovery to reclaim functional, productive lives,” according to the nonprofit's website.

Odyssey’s services – and it’s not clear how many or when they’ll be offered at Fairview – include prevention, treatment, physical and mental health care, life skills and vocational training, counseling, case management and transitional housing.

The first year of Odyssey House’s operations at Fairview has been devoted to implementing best practices and putting the program on a sound financial footing, CEO Edward C. Carlson said.

“We’re trying to figure out how to make these small-town facilities more sustainable because they’re closing all over the state,” Carlson said.

He anticipates that the Bayou Vista facility will serve 30 to 40 participants per month. Across its system, Odyssey House deals with 2,000 clients a month, Carlson said.

Higgins delivered a keynote speech before he joined in cutting the ribbon Monday.

The congressman has a long history of involvement with a different but potentially related societal problem: homelessness. At least as far back as 2015, when he was known mainly for his popular Crimestoppers videos, he devoted proceeds from the sale of Clay Higgins merchandise to the construction of a home for homeless veterans in Opelousas.

“I normally don’t come to ribbon-cuttings,” Higgins said Monday. “But I came to this one because it’s from my heart. …

“There’s no daylight between homelessness … and substance abuse,” Higgins said.

Also speaking Monday was Rebecca Davis of the South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority. Davis, who has been in recovery for 22 years, said Odyssey House in Bayou Vista is the only in-patient facility in the seven parishes served by the authority.