The Central Kansas Dream Center opened in 2013 and is growing at an amazing rate. The facility now is bursting at the seams to meet the needs of those who have no hope. The latest addition is two licensed outpatient counselors who provide drug and alcohol abuse individual and group treatment, DUI assessments and Substance Abuse Screening Inventories.
Kimberly Beary and Joe Rodriguez, overseen by Val Barrett, will take new clients beginning Nov. 1. “They have a wealth of knowledge,” said Kimberly Becker, director of CKDC.
The  Full Surrender Drug and Alcohol at CKDC received licensing from the state in October. They accept Medicaid for payment, but not insurance at this time-billing depends upon service. It is faith based.

• Residential program
CKDC began with a six month residential program for people with life controlling issues last August. They have graduated nine people, with seven successfully employed in jobs such as construction and home health care, and leading productive lives. The success rate is 78 percent.
“We have seen families restored,” said Becker. Some of them, she was told, there was no help for them. However, that six month period allows time to deal with character and personality issues that lead to addiction.
They currently have 11 students in the six month program, which is provided at no cost to participants. They have one opening for one male, and there is a waiting list for women.
The students work two days a week with Christian employers who make a tax free donation on their behalf, and spend the other three days studying character qualities with a Bible based curriculum. They are expected to attend church and volunteer for community service.
“Ninety percent of students are offered a position with that employer after graduation,” said Becker. “We’ve watched people’s lives change.
“It has blown me away how the community and churches are coming together to help,” she said. The program is funded by donations.
They are nearly finished with the facilities to house the women on the second floor, but need to complete the sprinkler system with the assistance of volunteers, which would open an additional 20 beds. The women are currently live in the transitional housing side of the old Roosevelt School, and the men in the program, off-site.
One of those graduates is Tim Konrade.

• Tim Konrade
A mere 25 years old, Tim Konrade has experienced much in his young life. Although he only began using drugs and alcohol at age 18, he spent much of those intervening years in jail, literally in fear of that he might be murdered, and  drunk or high-except, that is, for two stints in rehab, both failures.
Now gainfully employed in construction, clean and dry, and in touch with his family, Konrade credits this astounding change to the work he did at CKDC.
Before, “I was angry all of the time,” he said. “I kicked my family to the curb.
“I had to move two different times, “ including once to Denver, said Konrade. “Some people were out to kill me.”
His downward spiral began with a bad breakup with a girl friend his senior year in high school at Russell. He started with marijuana to deal with the pain and quickly moved to pills.
Even after two stints in rehab, he only stayed clean a month at most.
He then got hooked on meth after one use, eating only once or twice a week. He lost his job in masonry and began to steal from family members. He lived on the streets and went to jail. And then he used again.
Facing prison, he finally realized life could get no worse, “I asked God to save me.”
“Kimberly Becker came to see me,” Konrade said, and pointed him in a direction that quite possibly saved his life. He spent three months in a Bible-based program elsewhere, but when an opening arose at CKDC, he took it.
“I gave my life to God,” he said. Konrade used to isolate, but now he has developed a lot of relationships. Although he graduated from CKDC in April, he continues to work with other students, living next door to the men in the program.
He has been certified by the state as a peer mentor, and is studying to lead in the classroom.
Konrade face a test recently. “I’m buying a car,” said Konrade. “It was full of marijuana and alcohol. I flushed it all,” without a second thought.
“God has completely healed me,” Konrade said.