Region’s first recovery community center

East Tennessee State University has taken the lead in establishing the first recovery community center in the Northeast Tennessee region.

The Johnson City Recovery Center (JCRC) was proposed by Dr. Dorothy “Dottie” Greene, Associate Professor of Social Work in the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences and Executive Director, and is guided by an advisory board with membership from throughout the region.

Located at 513 E. Unaka Avenue, the JCRC hosts several recovery support groups, and once it is fully operational, it will host up to three different mutual aid groups daily, recovery coaching services, linkages to community resources, and recovery information and education groups. JCRC offers a safe, recoveryoriented environment to help bridge the gap between professional treatment services and mutual aid recovery organizations. It addresses the psychosocial barriers to addiction recovery and increases sustained recovery among its participants. All JCRC services are free of charge.

“We want folks to come in and feel welcome, safe, relaxed, and supported,” Greene said. “We also want to be easily accessible to the community and to those who will need us the most, and this location is right on the bus (Johnson City Transit) line, and a few short blocks from Turning Point, an addiction recovery organization operated by Frontier Health. There are a couple of recovery homes in our area, too, and we are less than a mile from ETSU Health’s Johnson City Downtown Day Center.”

Staff peer support specialists, volunteers from the recovery community, and ETSU social work student interns will coordinate volunteers, provide education and recovery information, develop and facilitate social activities, link participants to community-based resources, provide technological and employment assistance, and more. In addition, ETSU nursing, pharmacy, nutrition, and public health students will be involved in providing educational sessions on addiction recovery and healthrelated topics. The ETSU Addiction Science Center has also offered full support for this project.

The JCRC received $1.2 million in funding from Washington County, and ongoing fundraising also helps it provide services and cover expenses.