Founded in 2012, Shalom House is a self-funded men’s residential rehabilitation centre located in the heart of the Swan Valley in Perth, Western Australia, only 23km from the Perth CBD. While they specialise in the treatment of drug and alcohol related ailments, Shalom House offer services to anyone with a life-controlling issue whether it be anxiety, fear or emotional trauma – even Asperger’s Syndrome. As well as residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation, the West Australian Shalom Group has other community outreach services available for men in the Perth Metropolitan region. These have been structured to meet the needs of men in our community where traditionally those needs have been downplayed or ignored by society.

Started by Peter Lyndon James, Shalom House was born out of Peter’s vision to bring holistic recovery to the lives of men, providing a long-term safe community for those pursuing a life free from addiction. He draws inspiration from his own life experience, recovering from a broken family and associated trauma. Their program is practical and hands on, ensuring that their resident’s function actively within the community. At Shalom House their residents always come first in the service they provide; they do whatever they can to provide a safe place for them to do what they need to. Shalom House are operating on the frontline of the war on drugs and consider themselves to be applying a unique approach to rehabilitation of men caught in addiction. Shalom House’s main focus is first and foremost the desire to assist families, equip them with the exact ways and things to do to deal with loved ones in addiction and bring them to the point of change. Once their father, husband or son is ready to change, reaches out for help and is accepted into the program, they initiate a process of holistic rehabilitation. They offer a rehabilitation program that focuses on bringing restoration to all areas of the resident’s life, including finances, relationships, heart issues, employment, education and training for the future. Their program is practical and hands-on, ensuring that residents and all involved in Shalom are valued and contributing members of the community.

All their financial processing and processes are audited by Ernst/Young Auditors who go over all their books twice per year to ensure they are using their funds wisely and that every dollar is accounted for. The most important element and contributing factor in the success of their self-funded model is their residents, volunteers and staff. They provide a safe and confidential environment for men to be able to speak about their life experiences and the personal battles they face without fear of criticism, and to get the emotional support that comes from finding that many others share the same battles. Shalom House is fundamentally a working rehabilitation and discipleship centre. The residents’ contribution as a paid and volunteer labour force is critical to their success. The effectiveness of Shalom’s program is seen in the smiles of families who have had their loved ones restored to them. It is in the glow of health surrounding these men. It is in the wholesome communication and values that the role models of the family unit are now instilling in the generations above and below them. It is in the full restoration across all areas of their life. Not only do the men learn to put back into each other and their families, they are sowing good seed into the larger community they will end up going back to.  In sharing their experiences and finding solutions to the problems through the sharing, lives are changed, marriages restored, and men can rise into the full potential they have in their manhood. Once their life-controlling issue has been addressed they demonstrate that they can be fully functioning, integrated members of the community as well as quality role models within the family unit. Shalom House started with a basic attempt to meet a need, governed by a simple set of values and ideals. This has grown into so much more than that: a vision of a future where they stand firm in a fight against what others see as an unwinnable battle against the scourge of drugs in the country. By rolling out self-funded rehabilitation centres across Australia they are saving the ratepayers of Australia millions of dollars while at the same time, restoring the lives of men, women and families in the community.

For further information on Shalom House visit shalomhouse.com.au