Shalom House is a faith based drug rehabilitation facility located in the Swan Valley about 23 kilometres (14 mi) north of Perth in Western Australia.
The facility was established in 2012 as a residential rehabilitation centre for men by Peter Lyndon-James. After purchasing the 10 acres (4 ha) property which contained a house and large shed in 2012 a friend of Lyndon-James moved in and became a house-leader, and soon a psychiatrist and general practitioner offered their services one day a week.
Lyndon-James is a reformed ice addict and former prisoner who established the Western Australian Shalom Group on a self sufficient financial model. Each man housed in the facility is charged A$300 per week to stay. He was also once in charge of a large drug-dealing operation and went to jail on drugs charges until radically changing his life in 2000.
By 2015 it was a 30-bed centre at a property in Henley Brook in an area zoned residential.
In early 2016 the City of Swan ordered the facility to shut down after it rejected the facility's application to change the use of its rural block from dwelling to 'community purpose'. Lyndon-James took the case to the State Administrative Tribunal. The tribunal agreed with the City that 'community purpose' did not fit the operation. But the tribunal also urged the City to reconsider its decision on planning grounds. The City of Swan challenged the decision of the tribunal and took the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the matter be referred back to the State Administrative Tribunal.
By 2016 the facility was housing 37 men at the Henley Brook property with another 23 housed in six separate locations. The not for profit organisation had a total of 23 staff some of whom were paid and the others as volunteers. The organisation grew rapidly and by mid-2017 it housed over 100 residents, employing nearly 50 staff members.
The facility regards itself as the strictest rehabitation in Australia using only cold turkey. When clients enter the facility they must surrender their phone and are no permitted to leave unaccompanied. They lose television, radio, books and magazines and are not permitted drugs, drug replacements or alcohol. They work nine-to-five on the property and also do voluntary work for local charities.
Shalom House and Lyndon-James featured on the episode Breaking Good on the television program, Australian Story, aired in April 2017.
Video Shalom House
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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