Samaritan Colony to hold groundbreaking for Women’s Center

ROCKINGHAM — Samaritan Colony will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its coming SECU Women’s Recovery Center on Monday, Jan. 10 during which they will also launch their Changing Lives Campaign, a multi-year fundraising effort aimed at securing the funds for the construction of their new facility, covering the first three years of operating expenses and establishing the first endowment fund for the addiction treatment center.

In addition to the $1 million grant from State Employees Credit Union they received in late September, Samaritan has received $500,000 in the recently-passed state budget — a provision included due to work by Sen. Tom McInnis — and received a $100,000 grant from both the Cole Foundation and the Richmond Community Foundation, according to Constance Pearson, who will head up the Women’s Center.

Constance and her husband, Harold, executive director of Samaritan Colony, set a fundraising goal of $3.4 million for the construction of the facility and an additional $1.9 million for operating expenses for the first three years. The SECU grant, which required Samaritan to take several steps in order to ensure long-term sustainability, finally gave them the money needed to cover the construction after initially planning to begin construction in spring 2019.

After getting the SECU grant, Constance said things started to “open up” and Monday’s ceremony is part of keeping that momentum going.

“We’re not ready to actually physically ‘break ground’ because some things have gotten in the way of that but we’re ready to do the ceremony, that’s for sure,” Constance said.

She and Harold have been grateful for the support shown by the community on this effort.

“Samaritan Colony … the men’s program, does fine (financially), it has for almost 50 years. We’re going to have to double that income so this will support us until we’re able to get that monthly income coming in,” Constance said. “The money has been coming in not just from the foundations but also from individual community members.”

“It’s just really great to have community involvement in this,” she continued. “This isn’t something that Samaritan Colony is doing, it’s something that Richmond County and the Sandhills area is doing, so it’s a community effort for sure.”

The WRC will be the first residential substance abuse treatment facility for women in Richmond County and will be the only one within about an hour-and-a-half drive, according to a letter signed by members of Daymark Recovery Services and sent to Governor Roy Cooper in support of Samaritan Colony being granted approval for adding 14 residential treatment beds in 2018.

Once fully operational, Samaritan expects that 136 women will be able to complete a 28-day treatment at the WRC annually.

McInnis, who previously included a $50,000 allocation in the 2018-2019 state budget to support the Women’s Center, touted Samaritan Colony’s “long history of success” in treating men struggling with addiction.

“The addiction problems for our female population are worse due to the distance of treatment facilities from Richmond County,” McInnis said. “The Women’s Center will allow for our local women to receive the professional addiction treatment they need and be close to their children and families. This facility will allow The Samaritan Colony organization to further assist our community as we fight the deadly problem of drug and alcohol addiction. I am honored to be able to bring this lifesaving appropriation to Richmond County.”

The Changing Lives Campaign is now focused on Phase 2 of the fundraising for the WRC, which is the $1.9 million for the operating expenses for the first three years and the creation of the first endowment fund for Samaritan Colony. For information about how to support the WRC, visit their website (www.samaritancolony.org) and follow them on Facebook @samaritancolony.

Other supporters of Samaritan’s new venture include the Sandhills Center, The Cannon Foundation, The James R. & Bronnie L. Braswell Trust, The Baxter Foundation, the state of North Carolina and other private donors.

Because of the funds included in the state budget, the WRC will be required to go through a bidding process for the construction. The North Carolina Baptist Men have also committed to providing free labor to help get the facility up and running.

The WRC will be a 14-bed facility with 10 total staff members, compared to the 12-bed men’s facility with 8 staff members. It will employ an all-female staff including licensed clinical addiction specialists, peer-support specialists, night staff, an administrative staff member, and a cook, according to Harold Pearson.

The facility will be 13,000 square feet on a 25-acre campus on Samaritan Colony’s land slightly north of the current facility, which is located off of U.S. 220 North on Samaritan Drive. It was designed by the Rockingham-based Stogner Architecture.