- February 7, 2025
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The Dr. James E. Huger Adolescent Campus has undergone a complete facelift to better serve youth within Volusia County and throughout Florida.
A ribbon cutting for the updated campus, located at 3875 Tiger Bay Rd., Daytona, was held on Wednesday, Oct. 4. The campus, part of Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Health Services, consists of the Residential Adolescent Program and the Bringing Enrichment and Children Home program.
The campus is named after Dr. James "Jimmy" E. Huger, one of SMA's founding board members.
The RAP program treats adolescents, ages 13 through 17, for substance abuse through individual, group and family interventions while the BEACH House program acts as a respite for youth, ages 10 through 17, who fall into the category of being truants, ungovernable, runaways or homeless.
During the 2016-2017 fiscal year, BEACH House program served 390 youth and their families while the RAP program served 66 youth and families, according to SMA CEO Ivan Cosimi, a Port Orange resident.
The renovation has given the facilities a new look, including a colorful paint scheme for each building. Additionally the interiors of the BEACH House program wing were completely redone with new dorm rooms, including separate boys and girls dorms, a community room and observation rooms for more concerning client cases.
The dining hall space was also gutted and redone while a new awning at the entrance was added. Additionally, there were roof repairs and walkways added to all the adjoining sidewalks along the buildings. Outdoor seating, landscaping and building facades were new additions.
It was through the Stewart-Marchman-Act Foundation, as well as private grants and donations that the Huger Adolescent Campus was able to be renovated during the past year. The project was funded after the SMA Foundation reached a goal of raising $500,000 after starting a campaign in the summer of 2015.
"I'm ecstatic that we have this community support," Cosimi said. "It really took a lot of individuals giving of their time and their money to put their kind of belief in what we do."
Hall Construction Co. worked on the renovation project while the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District helped fund the campus' outdoor recreational areas. This included the ropes course, volleyball, basketball and softball locations and an exterior pavilion with new picnic tables and receptacles. The construction was completed in a roughly eight month period, ending this past July.
"I'm very happy," Cosimi said. "It's going to give the youth that we serve at that campus this very high-end quality kind of programming or environment that they might not be accustomed to and will kind of give them some hope for living a better life."
More information on these programs can be found at smabehavioral.org/services/residential-services/.
