The Portage Youth Centre, which treats young people for drug and alcohol addiction, is hoping to raise $1.2 million to upgrade its facility in Sussex, N.B.

The centre helps adolescents from across Atlantic Canada overcome drug and alcohol problems. It also helps them catch up on their education.

Centre director Geordie Gould said as many as 50 students are in treatment for six to eight months at a time, and the building is bursting at the seams.

The centre's two classrooms are shoehorned into a five-trailer assembly which also includes offices. Students are often forced to sit in the hallways because the classrooms can't hold everyone, Gould said.

There is no gymnasium, but Gould said the worst problem is the boy's dorm in the basement.

"It's not quite submarine standard, but it could be a lot more comfortable for developing better self-esteem and self-confidence and feeling more comfortable in the environment," he said.

Randy Davis is one of two teachers that provide individual education programs for the students.

He said some of them manage to meet high-school graduation requirements after courses they complete at the centre.

"Then there are others who will just get themselves up to speed, and they will go back to school and do a Grade 9 or 10 again but hopefully when they do return they won't be at a Grade 7 level."

More than 1,000 youths have passed through the centre since it opened more than a decade ago.