In 1988, a career researcher, Mr. Gerald Brown, sought to determine the actual success rates for conventional rehab facilities, as well as 12 Step support groups, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. As he was conducting his research, he met the man who would become his research assistant, Mr. Mark Scheeren. After three years of intensive research, together they created the first social/educational model to help people to overcome drug and alcohol problems. The Original Non 12 Step Program was born in 1992, providing the solution to the ever-increasing substance use problem in the United States.

We opened the doors to our first retreat in February 1992, in a quaint village in the scenic Mohawk Valley Region of upstate New York. That first retreat was then called the Hagaman Guest House. Many of our early guests helped in our research and helped to rebuild our beautiful Victorian era home into the grandeur you see today. As the retreat was completed and our program evolved, the retreat was renamed the Saint Jude Retreat around 2000. Jerry and Mark were both Catholic and wanted to honor Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Patron Saint of the Hopeless for the help he had given them to overcome the challenges they faced while building the life-changing program. Even though the name is religious in Nature, it’s important to know, our program has no religious component to it. It is merely a name given to our facility for personal reasons.