Guest House, Inc. is a non-profit, charitable organization that is Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accredited and licensed residential treatment center treating Roman Catholic clergy, religious brothers, and since 1994 religious sisters who suffer from substance use disorders, process addictions, compulsive overeating and co-occurring mental, physical or medical disorders. Opened in 1956 in Lake Orion, Michigan, Guest House is recognized as the first North American provider of residential treatment programs for Catholic clergy, religious and seminarians. Guest House has 78 combined full-time and part-time employees, and an annual budget in excess of $7 million. Guest House is intended to provide the information, education, treatment and care needed to assure that Catholic clergy, men٫ and religious women suffering from alcoholism, addictions and other behavioral health conditions have the best opportunity for quality recovery and overall health and wellness. History Guest House was founded by Austin Ripley, who was a nationally renowned mystery fiction writer and author of Minute Mysteries, a popular newspaper column featuring solve-it-yourself crime cases, which was syndicated in more than 170 U.S. newspapers. Until the early 1940s, Ripley was battling his own crippling addiction to alcohol. As a recovering alcoholic, Ripley observed through priest acquaintances that Catholic priests were not succeeding in overcoming their own addictions through traditional means. Ripley decided to devote himself to the creation of a treatment program that respected not only the religious calling of priests and other religious people but also preserved their dignity as human beings. First opened and closed in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1951, Guest House was founded on Ripley's profound belief that his program should "save the individual; save the vocation," and in precisely that order. Guest House eventually opened permanently in Lake Orion, Michigan. Ripley re-opened Guest House on Pentecost Sunday in 1956. The new location of Guest House in Lake Orion was the former home of newspaper magnate William Edmund Scripps. Built in 1927 at a cost of over $2 million, the Scripps Mansion was isolated and had plenty of land which provided a peaceful environment for treatment. The purchase price of the mansion in 1956 was a bargain at only $185,000; however, Ripley did not have enough money to meet the purchase price. He was able to raise the money with the help of the Archdiocese of Detroit, through various fundraising activities and with additional help of the then Archbishop of Detroit, Edward Cardinal