A group of Shepparton philanthropists have successfully established a residential rehabilitation centre in the hope the service can begin the domino effect needed to address drug and alcohol abuse in regional Victoria.

The Cottage began as an idea in March 2016, when hundreds of residents came together to discuss the impacts addiction was having on the town.

Eight months later, the program began to operate out of two houses in Shepparton and, this month, The Cottage will launch a third, 10-bed facility.

The centre has been fully-funded by a number of passionate residents, but the operators are quick to mention that it does not overshadow existing rehabilitation services in the region.

"We're seeing miracles every day here, with people coming in and reconnecting back with family, getting their kids back in their lives," manager Joshua Simm said.

"It's just beautiful to see them using this place as a stepping stone to get back into whatever they want to do.

"Addiction puts strain on the families, so when these people start to get well, it leaks off onto the people around them.

"So seeing that we're making breakthroughs is adding value into the great services here in Shepparton."

The goal of the service is to empower individuals to heal and recover, with 50 clients already completing the program.

It runs between four and 13 weeks, and treats all forms of substance dependency.

Rylee Brown is a support worker at The Cottage. ( ABC Shepparton: Rhiannon Tuffield )

While funded initially through the community, The Cottage will soon receive a $75,000 contribution through Shepparton's Fairley Foundation, but will be supported long-term through patient lodging fees.

Patients have been referred to the service through various drug and alcohol services in the Goulburn Valley, or through word of mouth.

While Mr Simm said the region was lucky to have generous contributors, he believed a lack of government funding had placed regional Victoria in a precarious position.

"I think there's definitely room for more rehabilitation services in Shepparton and detoxification services," he said.

"Working towards more collaboration with all of our services, and with making the process of coming into a treatment like this a lot simpler, I think, would be the key."

Drug issues in regional Victoria

Shepparton has been identified as a priority area for police to tackle the effects of the drug crystal methylamphetamine, or ice, but the tragic effect of a wide range of drugs is well-publicised across regional Victoria.

There has been a push locally for more residential rehab facilities, and last May the Victorian Government committed $9.7 million to establish services across the regions.

But because of a pressing need to fund existing residential services, the regions have been put on hold.

Odyssey House Victoria chief executive and psychologist Stefan Gruenert acknowledged that regional Victoria had been ignored by successive governments when it came to funding.

"I think for many years Victoria has had too few residential services, and we've been left and halved per capita of many other states and territories," Dr Gruenert said.

"At the moment it's still pretty tough for people regionally to access services, but there is some hope on the horizon with the three planned new residential services in regional Victoria."

The Hume, Gippsland, Barwon South-West and Loddon Mallee regions have been pinpointed as priority areas for rehabilitation funding.

Drug use per capita has, for some time, been higher than in the cities, with a range of underlying factors contributing to the issue.

Joshua Simm and Robert Bryant are founders of The Cottage, Shepparton's community funded residential rehab centre. ( ABC Shepparton: Rhiannon Tuffield )

Dr Gruenert said low employment options, unpredictability of agricultural work, low levels of infrastructure and recreational activities, paired with a lack of support services had contributed to the problem.

While he said a gamut of treatments would address addiction, residential rehabilitation was fast becoming an important recovery option.

"Most people want a residential service in or close to their town, so that people can access it more easily than they have been able to access the ones central to Melbourne," he said.

"It's a balance between ensuring that it's close enough to where people are coming from so that families and loved ones can visit, without having to travel long distances.

"But there's also some value in having it a little bit away from the area where people are coming from, so that it is a break from your network of colleagues or contacts.

"We need a wider range of support services for mental health, family violence and drug and alcohol to ensure that when things have gone wrong, we can have capacity in the system out there."

Leading the way

Mr Simm, who has battled through addiction himself, said drug addicts would rehabilitate more effectively if they could do it in the comfort of their own communities.

In the week before the facility celebrates its open day, Mr Simm said he hoped the idea of The Cottage could branch out into other regional areas in Victoria to help those in need.

"I think it would be amazing. That's what we hope to do," he said.

"We hope to get this program up and running as it is, and then maybe we can pilot it out into other communities.

"The core of our program is just about people coming in and having the willingness to do some work on themselves."