BUTTE — On a quiet back street in Butte, a treatment facility has been helping women recover from substance abuse issues for the past year.
The treatment facility is the second location for the Butte SPIRIT Homes nonprofit and was opened after the organization saw a need to address substance abuse treatment for women in the community.
"Recovery means another chance at life. I’ve been in addiction pretty much most of my life. I knew that I had to do something different for me and my kids. It’s been some pretty rough struggles—trials and tribulations throughout my life that I didn’t know how to get through on a daily basis," says Shantell Flammond, a current resident at the new Butte SPIRIT Home.
Flammond says she was introduced to the program after graduating from a treatment program in the Montana Department of Corrections in February 2024. She is one of eight women living in the Butte SPIRIT Home.
Originally from Browning, Flammond says returning home was not an option at this time. She says she has tried treatment before but her experience with this organization feels different thanks to the staff at the facility, whom she now considers family.
"I’m so passionate about our residents. I watch them every day, you know, they come in and they’re hardened and they’re fearful and they don’t trust anybody and they have these dysfunctional survival skills. And it’s a lot to try to break down and find the real human and soul that’s underneath all of that," says Lisa Pesanti, clinical director and operations manager of the Butte SPIRIT Home.
Pesanti says addiction is a monster and recovery can’t be done alone. The average cost for a resident to enter the program is around $16,000. That is covered through insurance and donations, but Pesanti says a price cannot be placed on a life free from addiction.
"Anything is possible in my future now. I know how to get through hard things. I know who I want to be today. I never knew who I wanted to be before in life," says Flammond.
