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The funding will increase aftercare capacity from 11 to 17 beds and expand access to relapse prevention, counselling and group therapy. Mission Services of London is expanding its aftercare program for men recovering from substance addiction after receiving $1.1 million in donations. Announced by Mission Services of London on Monday, $600,000 of the funding was provided by an anonymous donor, while the remaining $500,000 was committed by Canadian charity RBJ Schlegel Family Foundation, said Tara Saunders, Mission Services of London's director of social enterprise, development and communications, on Wednesday. Saunders said the donations will bring the bed count to 17 at the organization's aftercare facility for men who have completed the Quinton Warner House Addiction Treatment Program, a four-month, live-in addiction treatment program for up to 20 men aged 18 and older. She called the donations, which will enable more men who complete the program to access abstinence-based housing supports while transitioning from treatment to independent living, "vital." "The Ontario Ministry of Health does contribute to the cost of running the Quinton Warner House Addiction Treatment Program, and then donations from the private community help us keep that going," Saunders said. "With the aftercare program, it is mostly reliant on private donations." Saunders said the bed count at the aftercare program had dropped to 11 at least a year and a half ago. The program will be renamed the Wilfred Schlegel Aftercare Program to commemorate Wilfred and his wife Emma, who were among the families instrumental in starting Mission Services of London in 1951. The donations also allow Mission Services of London to extend staffing hours at the aftercare facility, Saunders said, pointing out the funds enable greater access to services such as relapse prevention, counselling and group therapy. "The weeks and months immediately following treatment are critical in a graduate's journey," Mission Services of London's Monday news release said. "Access to resources - ongoing holistic supports for mind, body, and spirit - as well as peer connections in a broader community of belonging, can make the difference between sustained abstinence or relapse." Mission Services of London executive director Ericka Ronson praised the donations. "We are grateful for the RBJ Schlegel Family Foundation's investment in our aftercare program and its commitment to fostering community and comprehensive supports," Ronson said in a statement. Rob Schlegel, one of Wilfred Schlegel's grandsons and an RBJ Schlegel Family Foundation board member, said in a statement his grandfather "dedicated his life to taking care of and including those on the periphery of the community." "It is important to the family to continue his legacy," Schlegel said. The two donors hope to see the London community come together to double the donation to $2.2 million, Saunders said. Saunders said additional funding would give Mission Services of London the opportunity to ensure the program remains available to men for years to come and assess what its future could look like. "We know that the landscape with addictions treatment is constantly changing, and we want to continue to meet at the point of need, which is something that Mission Services has done since its inception 75 years ago," she said.

Former special counsel Jack Smith defended the Trump investigations during a contentious Senate hearing. Here's what he said. * Sen. Marsha Blackburn is suing Special Counsel Jack Smith and the DOJ over the subpoena of her phone records. * The lawsuit seeks to declare Smith's appointment unlawful and the data collection a violation of her civil rights. * Blackburn is seeking one dollar in damages plus attorney fees and court costs. * The lawsuit follows a funding bill provision, which Blackburn voted for, that allowed senators to sue the government over the investigation. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has filed suit against former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. Department of Justice for subpoenaing her Verizon cell phone records during an investigation of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blackburn is asking the court to declare Smith unlawfully appointed as special counsel and find his actions violated her civil rights. Blackburn is the Republican nominee for Tennessee governor. Last year, she voted for a government shutdown-ending funding bill that included a provision allowing the six U.S. senators whose phone records were subpoenaed in the so-called "Arctic Frost" investigation to sue the U.S. government and seek millions of dollars in damages. Congress later overturned the option for senators to seek financial compensation, but they can still sue. Now, Blackburn is following through to "hold Smith accountable, in his personal capacity, for his gross abuses of power." Her lawsuit was filed on Sept. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Blackburn is represented by the nonprofit, nonpartisan law firm New Civil Liberties Alliance. In the complaint, Blackburn asks the court to declare Smith was "unlawfully named" special counsel at the Justice Department and acted illegally in that capacity. Blackburn's attorneys also ask the court to declare the collection of her cell phone records a violation of her civil rights, and direct the Justice Department to destroy any copies of Blackburn's legislative materials and notes still in its custody. Her lawsuit is seeking damages in the amount of one dollar, plus attorney fees and court costs. Blackburn's suit was filed the day after Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Blackburn sits. During the Sept. 29 hearing, Republican senators submitted evidence that Arctic Frost investigators under Smith's authority had subpoenaed home addresses, bank account numbers and signatures of 4,782 Americans who donated to President Donald Trump, including more than 100 Tennesseans and several sitting members of Congress. Throughout the hearing, Smith defended his investigation, saying he would not be silenced by "continued threats of prosecution" over how he handled it. Blackburn was not present for the hearing with Smith. Instead, she attended an event in Knoxville celebrating a reactor construction permit for the Clinch River Nuclear Site. Late in the afternoon, an official Senate social media account for Blackburn posted "Jack Smith should be disbarred." "Through his Arctic Frost witch hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the President of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation's history," Blackburn said. "This lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation's justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people." During the Republican gubernatorial primary, Blackburn was attacked for voting in favor of the Arctic Frost damages provision. She was also the target of a Senate ethics complaint that alleged her vote in support of the measure could have led to a significant personal "financial windfall." Throughout the primary, Blackburn said she would not seek financial damages. Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.