Shortly after David's death Steve, 54, and his friend Lewey
walked by a house for rent in Sarasota. "Lewey said to me, 'I have a dream.' I said, 'What's that?' Lewey said, 'To open up a halfway house.' The next day I called and rented the house. I called Lewey back and said, 'Hey, you've got a house." It became the LaGasse Family Foundation's first recovery house, named David's House in memory of Steve's brother, with the goal of providing addicts a safe environment where they could make a soft transition into the real world.

   That was four years ago. Today there are five recovery houses in all, each named in memory of someone who either suffered from or helped in the fight against the disease of addiction - four men's houses and one women's house, totaling 36 beds, all in Sarasota. The average length of stay is about six months. 

  "Our mission is helping those who want to help themselves," Steve said. "We want to help society with those riddled with drug addiction. Nine people between the ages of 18 and 25 die every day in the state of Florida from addiction." He added that addiction to prescription drugs - the addiction that took David's life - is one of society's most challenging problems. And one of the best ways to bring addicts back to a normal life, he said, is to put structure back into their lives just after they've left treatment centers - just as he's done with his residents.

   "They have an eleven o'clock curfew on weeknights, twelve
on weekends," Steve said. "They have to be employed. They have mandatory meetings they have to go to every day. They have a meeting once a week with the foundation, to chart their progress." Steve said his residents - who currently range in age from 19 to 55 - come from all walks of life, "from Park Avenue to park bench," and the entire effort receives no federal or state funding. It gets by solely on public donations and support from Steve's company, LaGasse Services Inc., which is a paver, brick, and swimming pool renovation business.

   "The numbers out there on how many people are addicted to drugs and alcohol is amazing," Steve said. "Amazing and sad. And I'm glad we've got a place - a halfway place between treatment and society."