Blessing and ribbon-cutting of drug and alcohol rehab honors longtime leader of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Paterson
“We will rebuild.” That’s what Msgr. Herbert Tillyer said to Scott Milliken, CEO of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Paterson, on Aug. 19, 2019, after a six-alarm fire had destroyed the main building of the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, Straight and Narrow. The two had been in the Paterson Fire Department’s command center mobile trailer all day with Angela Nikolovski, executive director of Straight and Narrow. They were assured by officials that everyone had escaped safely, and thanks to the American Red Cross and St. Joseph’s Hospital, clients had been cared for and relocated.
Milliken shared the story on Dec. 8 as over 200 community leaders, lawmakers, volunteers, and supporters gathered for a blessing and ribbon-cutting of the new state-of-the-art facility, fittingly named the Monsignor Herbert K. Tillyer, P.A. Rehabilitation Center in honor of the former chairman of the board of Straight and Narrow and longtime leader of Catholic Charities organizations. With Msgr. Tillyer’s vision and wisdom, said Milliken, they have rebuilt the premier, best building they could for rehabilitation.
Nikolovski, executive director of the comprehensive social service nonprofit, said the grand opening is a testament to what can be achieved when people work together on a shared vision. “We have transformed our vision into a reality and reimagined what recovery and treatment can look like in our community.” This will allow Straight and Narrow to expand, she said, reaching and serving more individuals and families, providing “innovative, compassionate care in a space designed for healing.”
The $30 million project, a 50,000 square-foot facility, features a 50-bed halfway house for men, a state-of-the-art food-service dining and commercial kitchen to serve approximately 3,000 meals a day, men’s and women’s clinical and outpatient services, pastoral care, and administrative offices. The building is located next door to other Straight and Narrow buildings, not affected by the fire. Straight and Narrow also offers a Mommy and Me program, a Wellness Center featuring a CrossFit trainer, and Gymboree for clients’ children. Plans are underway to develop a halfway house for women, including women with children, and renovations are underway for the medical adult daycare center.
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“I have always said that working in Passaic County as a leader is a special network of people,” said Milliken. The dream was realized because of many generous, skilled individuals, said Milliken as he thanked NK Architects, Natoli Construction, the Catholic Charities Board of Trustees led by Father Martin Glynn, the Catholic Charities team, lawmakers including Congresswoman Nellie Pou and State Sen. Benjie Wimberly who helped secure New Jersey State budget funding, Paterson mayor André Sayegh, Passaic mayor Hector Lora, Ron Jampel, a volunteer, who guided them through the New Market Tax credit procedure, New Jersey Capital, AFLI-CII Housing Investment Trust and Valley Bank. The agency also received support from the Diocese of Paterson’s Diocesan Ministries Appeal, $1.6 million from the American Rescue Plan through the City of Paterson for an HIV program, and a grant from the Moglia Foundation to build a Wellness Center.
Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, attended the event and shared how she was delighted to receive a letter from Pope Leo XIV in October at their annual convention. One line from the Holy Father’s message touched her heart: “Through your 168 Diocesan Catholic Charities agencies, you become agents of hope for the millions of people who approach the Church in the United States of America seeking compassion and care.” Robinson said, “The men and women of Catholic Charities Diocese of Paterson are the very agents of hope about whom the pope wrote. Indeed, the Monsignor Herbert Tillyer Rehabilitation Center is a beautiful living testament to the fact that hope cannot be extinguished.”
Msgr. Tillyer led the gathered in a prayer expressing gratitude and joy to God. “We rededicate ourselves to the saving mission of providing life-saving help to every person who will be served in this new rehabilitation center. Doing this faithfully and well under your guidance, dear Lord, will enable us to create genuine hope in the hearts and the minds of our precious clients and their families… we humbly and confidently ask you Lord for your guiding hand in every therapeutic intervention, in all the work that will take place here for many years and decades to come, even into the next century.”
The Diocese of Paterson’s Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney said the project has been an example of great teamwork and the good that can happen when community leaders work together. “We are all God’s children, and we believe as Christians that God calls us to see the presence of God in each and every person, especially our brothers and sisters who are most in need.” Pointing out that they were holding the event on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and that the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was to be celebrated on Dec. 12, the Bishop led the blessing, praying that Our Lord through the intercession of Mary, St. Joseph and all the angels and saints would bless the new facility and “all those who have made it possible, all those who will come to work here, to serve and to receive the gifts of healing and hope.”
Milliken encouraged guests touring the space to look at the quality of the craftsmanship guided by Natoli Construction and “made in America by our local unions.”
Many who worked on and supported the project were delighted to be in attendance.
“These types of projects make work amazing. You come here, and you feel the impact, and you know that you are making a difference,” said Harpreet Peleg, CEO of Building America and chief financial officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.
“It’s a really exciting day. To rebuild this…and see how beautiful it is and how many lives it is going to change; it’s extremely rewarding,” said Tom Kelly, president, Passaic Central Labor Council.
“For decades, Straight and Narrow has offered a lifeline to men and women struggling with substance use and addiction, said Congresswoman Nellie Pou. “It restores dignity, rebuilds families, and renews hope before despair can take root. Every day, the staff and volunteers here carry out the Gospel’s call to lift our neighbors up, offering compassion and clinical excellence in equal measure. With the opening of this new center, that mission continues, stronger and broader but imbued with the same unwavering commitment to the inherent worth of every man and woman.”
“We are here to celebrate a city of second chances, and a center that will give people a second chance … this is a building of mercy,” said Paterson Mayor André Sayegh.
