Portfolio of Work

NOTE: As part of the Changing Lives Campaign, I authored and used this case for support to raise 2.3 million within 18 months.   

In rural and impoverished regions of North Carolina, a significant gap exists concerning the availability of affordable, residential treatment facilities for women suffering from substance use disorder and histories of trauma. In the communities we serve, access to available treatment is a social problem, affecting more than just the person needing treatment.

Since 1975, Samaritan Colony has been filling this gap for men, providing residential treatment and aftercare counseling services for over 5000 men and their families. Our family counseling programs and Sunday spiritual services provide an integrated and holistic approach for individuals and their families, wherever they may be on their recovery journey. Local agencies, churches, and schools can rely on Samaritan Colony for collaboration and outreach services because of Samaritan's commitment to educating the community and providing hope that recovery is possible.

As we celebrate our 46th year, Samaritan Colony is now being called by our community to serve the women of the Sandhills region who are tragically addicted to drugs or alcohol. We have a proven method that has worked well with men. We now want to build a residential facility to serve women and offer a sustainable program where we will hire and train talented staff for this unique, life-changing work. 

If a woman residing in the Sandhills region needs residential care, there are many obstacles presented to her and her family. Because of the lack of affordable addiction treatment facilities in central North Carolina, a woman is often placed on a waiting list for several weeks or longer. Many women have no choice but to travel 100 miles or more to receive life-saving treatment.

Setbacks to receiving timely treatment impact not only the individuals needing help and their families; the delays place additional burdens on our healthcare system (ERs, urgent care centers), our judicial system, and law enforcement. 

The Women's Recovery Center is urgently needed to address the pervasive drug overdose crisis, which the pandemic has compounded. Recent statistics reflect a frightening spike in unintentional opioid-related deaths in North Carolina. Overdose data from the North Carolina Opioid Dashboard reveals a dramatic increase from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the end of June 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2019, in North Carolina, there were a total of 375 unintentional opioid-related deaths. For the first six months of 2020, this number across the state jumped to 1,630. 

A successful Samaritan Colony—Changing Lives Campaign will raise $5.3 million and support the organization’s growth by providing the resources to fund the following: 

•  a 14-bed, 13,000 square foot, residential treatment facility for women—The Women’s Recovery Center (WRC)
• staffing and operational costs for three years
• the creation of the first endowment fund for Samaritan Colony 

The benefits to the communities served by Samaritan Colony are broad and far-reaching. The Surgeon General reports that every dollar spent on substance use disorder treatment saves four dollars in healthcare costs and seven dollars in criminal justice costs. 

Samaritan Colony's mission is simple—to provide coordinated care and ongoing support to underserved people who suffer from addiction so they can have a fulfilling life for themselves and their families. Samaritan Colony has been a living testament of our mission for over four decades. With the creation of the Women's Recovery Center, a talented staff to support it, and our first endowment fund, our mission's expansion will bring desperately needed services for women and new jobs to the community.