(MNN) – The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Communications director Jeremiah Gardner says it was a radical idea back then to treat people with addiction or alcoholism with compassion, dignity, and respect. Garnder says Hazelden opened its doors on May 1st, 1949, in a secluded farmhouse on a lake in Center City. In 2014, Hazelden merged with the Betty Ford Center and has grown into the largest nonprofit substance abuse and mental health care provider in the U.S.