Assistant Outdoor Director Grady Finch plays a crucial role in the client experience at Balance House.  As a program with a vast outdoor component, Balance House gives clients the opportunity to learn how to thrive in the beautiful outdoor landscape of Utah’s Wasatch Front while integrating the skills they learn in the wilderness back into their daily lives. 

Grady notes that “the biggest skill the guys learn in the wilderness is self-care.  If they don’t take care of themselves, they’ll end up wet, cold, and not enjoying their experience.  Changing your socks at the end of the night, drying out your sleeping bag; there are so many ways to make life more manageable and enjoyable during outings and trips. Learning how to practice self-care in the wilderness directly translates into guys being able to take care of themselves in their everyday lives.”

Grady’s role is key in helping guys regain ownership of their lives by re-learning how to take care of the little things.  Thriving on outings and under the rhythm of the sun allows clients to slow down and bring themselves to center.  The camaraderie and bonds that clients form outside help foster trust, understanding, and appreciation for one another.  The culmination of a client’s experience at EVNSQ is a five-day wilderness excursion into Utah’s backcountry.  During this trip, clients who have been at EVNSQ the longest utilize ceremony as a way to pass down the knowledge and skills that they’ve learned to newer clients.  Not only do they return as leaders in the community, but they set a powerful example for newer clients and the group as a whole.

About Balance House

Balance House is a year-long continuum of care for young men ages 18-35 years old.  We are located in Salt Lake City, Utah at the base of the Wasatch Mountains.  Balance House offers four, distinct levels of care from residential treatment to independent, sober living.  Residents of the program are offered a chance to explore the outdoors, and beauty that Utah has to offer, as well as to participate in group and evidence-based treatment modalities.  Our treatment program is different by design.  We offer a space in which young men can help make decisions about their treatment plans and goals as well as feel supported as they begin to realize what is important to them outside of the treatment setting.