Dawn Farm offers a range of high-quality services for individuals struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Many young addicts and alcoholics who have exhausted all other options find new hope at Dawn Farm. Since 1973, our programs have always provided assistance regardless of financial means. We continuously assess the success of our clients, their satisfaction with our programs, and other program outcomes in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of our services. Dawn Farm is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our programs are licensed by the State of Michigan and accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).
ABOUT DAWN FARM – YPSILANTI
Dawn Farm is a non-profit drug and alcohol treatment center located in rural Michigan. Situated on a 64-acre working farm in Ypsilanti, 12 miles southeast of Ann Arbor, our CARF-accredited farm program offers long-term residential treatment for adults. In Ann Arbor, we also provide outpatient services and a non-medical detox unit called the Spera Recovery Center.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Residential stays at Dawn Farm typically range from 90 to 120 days, allowing each client adequate time to develop the habits and routines needed to thrive in a community setting. Our programming combines evidence-based practices with holistic measures. In addition to individual counseling and group therapy, clients benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and art and work therapy. We also offer educational classes, job training, G.E.D. services, vocational referrals, and encourage clients to participate in the 12 Steps and local meetings. Daily activities on the farm revolve around the needs of the farm itself, including animal care, garden maintenance, and general upkeep of the grounds. Before leaving the farm, clients can enroll in our six-month aftercare program and have the opportunity to live at the Chapin Street Project, our transitional housing unit, for an additional two years.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Our CARF-accredited facility has a team that includes a medical director, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and several master’s level social workers and certified addiction counselors.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
At Dawn Farm in Ypsilanti, we can accommodate up to 36 clients at a time. We keep our costs down by providing modest accommodations and amenities. Residents sleep in bunk beds in cabin-style facilities and are responsible for the farm’s custodial needs as well as planning and cooking their own meals.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Reviews from alumni of Dawn Farm are varied. Some found the treatment recommendable, despite the simple environment. They appreciated the connection to the recovery community and the opportunity to learn self-care. Others had a negative experience, describing the staff and therapists as manipulative and claiming a lack of respect from staff and peers.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Feedback from a loved one was positive, celebrating the success of the individual who attended the program and highlighting almost four years of sobriety.
WHAT STAFF SAY
Staff members commended the large alumni network of Dawn Farm and noted that they have witnessed long-term sobriety achieved by individuals who had not succeeded in other facilities.
FINANCING
Residential treatment at Dawn Farm costs $140 per day. EMDR sessions, psychiatric evaluations, and medication reviews have separate pricing. Currently, Dawn Farm does not work with any insurance providers but ensures that no individual will be denied services due to lack of insurance or funds.
Dawn Farm Reviews
Dawn Farm is a fraudulent organization. This company charges an insane amount for their inpatient treatment which on the actual farm consists mostly of farm labor. The downtown location is like an episode of Big Brother where everyone just ran out of drugs but are locked inside.
The real problem comes in what they call transitional housing. The company offers housing to recovering addicts for over $500 a month. The addict must attend meetings and maintain employment. Curfews are enforced and drug tests can happen at any time.
This sounds great until you get to the details and live it. They expect a newly recovering addicts who is struggling to find employment to adhere to daily meeting and curfew requirements, while telling employers they can't work past 4pm. They are expected to attend these meetings and maintain employment to afford the $500 in rent to live in inexcusable conditions.
The houses are typically 2-5 rooms with at least 2 people per room. There is barely enough room for a bed, and dresser with no floor space. These addicts who now have struggled so much just to humble themselves to get help are now being forced to live on top of another human, no privacy. No security for whatever belongings they may still have left.
Meanwhile the company is out claiming non-profit while paying the President, Jim Balmer nearly $150,000 a year to parade around Ann Arbor AA in sweatpants and raggedy clothes to portray an image of understanding. They run fundraisers and accept donations everywhere. You can ever start one on Facebook for their organization.
I understand there is good in everything and they do good in the community. There is a lot of give back and good people within. The people of the organization don't represent the evil that is at its core.
They should be exposed for what they do instead of praised. They claim to help addicts but what they have really done is privatized the court/probation system by using addicts and claiming to help them. The addicts are not patients, they are not in treatment. They are customers and this company takes advantage of these people in their most vulnerable state.
So, this was my first inpatient rehab. I was not ready to stop using at the time, however I was court & family ordered. It took 2-3 weeks for me to get used to all the rules and just come around to completely new lifestyle changes. I wasn’t problematic, but this was all just so new and different than anything. After a few weeks, I started truly trying. I was following rules and trying my best. Well, I was already on the counselors bad side. I didn’t stand a chance. No matter how hard I tried, I just felt like the counselors gave me zero respect. And the counselors caused tons of drama too! If one small thing happened that upset one of them, it became the whole group’s problem, privileges would be taken away (even smoke breaks). It was just A LOT for a newly clean/sober person to deal with. Overall, I would say Dawn Farm has a militant approach to treatment and it’s lots of tough love. They are not even a little bit gentle. One big thing for me, is they only offered group therapy sessions and nothing one-on-one. In the end, I was kicked out of the program 2 months in for “breaking too many rules.” I was not ready to leave treatment. I do not feel like Dawn Farm helped me towards finally getting clean/sober. Thankfully I found a different program that really helped. I would not recommend this program to anyone.
Staff is very manipulative. Therapist have hidden agenda
I totally agree with the negative reports I read wish I had read them earlier they do cut ties and they do limit calls they gave my relative a paper saying no money was needed at move into transitional housing and at the last minute told them they needed 485.00 to move in to transitional were is someone coming from rehab right into transitional going to get it. the response was get family to come up with it. And as she looked for a job and had not found one as soon as that money the family paid was gone it was get out and get out today I even called to ask for one or two days to find her a place and they said no she goes today. WOW what compassion they show to a struggling drug addict. Would NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PROGRAM TO ANYONE. I think this is unaceptable and cruel. I wish there was more compassion shown and more support
1) The continuum of care is built to provide recovery support and treatment from the point of detox all the way through their first or second year anniversary. Care is focused on long term recovery, not just the first days and weeks.
2) The place is honest. Unlike other programs, our fees are posted, there are no surprise fees, and no financial relationships with lab services or treatment placement services.
3) Professional staff. Long term residential sites are staffed with masters level clinicians and fully certified counselors.
4) The integration into the recovering community means clients have social support and are living recovery during their treatment and are well established when they move into the community.
5) Dawn Farm believes in the capacity of everyone to recover. There are high hopes, high expectations, and they don't give up.
Limitations: Dawn Farm may not be the right place for people who are medically fragile or have a severe and persistent mental illness
