Word is getting out on one of Skagit County's best-kept secrets.

That's thanks to La Conner High School alum and former Swinomish Tribal Community Senator Leon John, now the outreach director at Didgwalic Wellness Center northwest of town along Highway 20.

The Didgwalic facility is a rehabilitation center for anyone, tribal and non-tribal, dealing with addiction or other challenges to mental and physical health.

John outlined the Didgwalic mission as guest speaker for the second in a series of Meet the Mayor sessions at La Conner Swinomish Library last Saturday.

Mayor Marna Hanneman, starting her third month in office, invited John to update the public on Didgwalic's acquisition of the Conner Place Apartments and adjacent single-family residential home on S. Maple Avenue.

John said Didgwalic plans to covert the property to fully staffed and secure transitional housing as part of a model project that has drawn the attention of social services entities from around the country.

"Our mission," said John, "is to remove barriers to care. We do remove barriers. We don't want people to not be able to receive their needed care. I could talk all day about the great people who provide our services. All our professionals are really great with our clients."

Town officials have approved an update to La Conner's Uniform Development Code that will enable Didgwalic to transform the apartments, which are zoned for residential use, to a health care and wellness venue.

"It will serve as transitional housing," Hanneman said, "while housing is being built on Swinomish Reservation."

While residing in the transitional housing, Didgwalic clients will be able to confer with counselors, enroll in life skills courses, and prepare for re-entry into society and become productive citizens, John said.

"The thing to me that's impressive," said Hanneman, who has toured the main Didgwalic campus where 150 staff members are employed, "is that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. That's what's happening (at Didgwalic). This is very exciting to me. We're a village and we want to help each other out."

"I'm glad she was able to tour our facility," John said of Hanneman's visit to Didgwalic. "Going there and seeing it is way different than what you hear about it."

John said he delayed his planned senate retirement an additional term at the behest of longtime Swinomish Social Services Director John Stephens, now retired, to help get Didgwalic open in 2017. It's in the former Bayside Fitness Building.

"We renovated it to suit our specific needs," said John. "We added offices, a dental clinic, and a child watch center. We immediately outgrew ourselves."

Didgwalic has subsequently purchased the former site of the Circus Drive-In to accommodate expansion. The center now maintains a fleet of more than a dozen vans that provide client transportation in Skagit, Whatcom, Island and Snohomish counties.

"On a slow day, 250 clients will come through," said John, "It's amazing to see the broad range of people who come in."

John said being inclusive is the foundation upon which Didgwalic is built.

"One of the most misunderstood things is that it isn't just for native people," John said. "We're open to everyone and we take drop-ins."

John said it's not always easy to recognize those in need of care for addiction or who are struggling with mental health issues.

"We could probably walk through town and find four or five people who could use our services," John said.

Hanneman said she encourages people to tour the main Didgwalic facility, while John said those wishing to obtain further information about the wellness center's programs may contact him at [email protected].