“When you are tired and weary and maybe even losing your way, the best thing for a man is to come home and touch the hand of his friend. That is the way I will always think of this place and of you, and the wonderful years that Muriel and I and my family have had among you.” (Hubert Humphrey, 1964, speaking from the steps of the Waverly City Hall as he was about to leave for Washington to assume the Vice Presidency).
Both Hubert and Muriel Humphrey had a deep life-long concern for people who were suffering. It was Muriel’s hope that the Waverly home would become a place that promoted healing. A close friend, when asked how he thought Hubert Humphrey would feel if he knew his home had been turned into a chemical dependency treatment center said, “If he thought it had become a place for people to come to seek out healing, to renew themselves, he’d think it was great. That’s what he did there.”
The Humphrey family, with roots in the rural Midwest, was looking for retreat from the stress and pace of Washington, D.C. In 1954 the then Senator, Hubert Humphrey, purchased several acres of land on the north shore of Lake Waverly. The house was built in 1955, with several additions in later years.
Initially, the house consisted of three rooms and a loft. The main living room, still intact, has a central fireplace and large picture window, facing south to the lake. Bedrooms were later added to the west of the main room. These are now occupied by counseling offices. Also added later was the library, which is still intact. This is the room that gives you the closest feeling of what Humphrey’s life here was like. This is the place that Hubert Humphrey retreated to relax, renew himself, and think. And this is what New Beginnings has become for clients --- a place to seek out healing and find renewal.
The heart of our program is to provide the highest quality care, in a positive and caring atmosphere, to each individual patient and their family members. It is only through this kind of dedicated commitment that we can attain our goal, which is to return the alcohol/drug abuser and their family to the vital, healthy, lives they once had. One person at a time, One day at a time.