A second residential treatment facility that will help people battling substance-use disorder has been announced by Dickenson County officials, and this one will be for women and will be at the former Ervinton Elementary School in Nora.
The county’s Industrial Development Authority has entered into an agreement with Southwest Properties to develop and finance the facility, according to Dana Cronkhite, the county’s director of economic development.
It will be operated by Addiction Recovery Care, or ARC, which is headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky, and is the same company that will operate the Wildwood Recovery Center, a 112-bed residential addiction recovery facility for men that is being built in Clintwood. Announced in January, that project is expected to be completed in early 2024, according to a news release from county officials.
Both projects are part of the county’s economic development plan and include workforce development and a housing component, the release states.
“We are proud to be one of the first localities in the state to develop a project focusing on addiction treatment as a form of economic development,” Cronkhite said. “Southwest Virginia, like Eastern Kentucky, has been at the epicenter of the opioid epidemic, and our workforce participation has struggled as a result. We are eager to provide a treatment option to our citizens that provides a holistic approach, to include workforce development training and solutions that allow people an opportunity to reenter the workforce to earn a living wage and to increase the opportunity of long-term recovery.”
The Ervinton facility is expected to open by late December 2025 and will be open to all women. Additional details about the project will be announced later, Cronkhite said.
The school, which totals 49,500 square feet, was built in 1935 and closed at the end of the 2022-23 school year. It was first a high school and has had a couple of additions, she said.
For the Wildwood project, the county will use $250,000 received directly from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Settlement Fund, and in the coming months will apply for more money controlled by the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority, according to the release.
The authority was established by the General Assembly in 2021 to oversee the distribution of 55% of Virginia’s total settlement funds. Of the remainder, 30% is distributed directly to cities and counties, and the remaining 15% to the commonwealth.
The funds are to be used for opioid abatement and remediation efforts. Over the next 15 years, the state expects to receive a total of more than $1 billion from litigation against manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies believed to have contributed to the opioid crisis.
“Life-changing projects like this are a prime example of the purpose of Virginia’s opioid settlement funding,” said state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, who is chair of the opioid authority.
“This investment will support the core mission of the Wildwood Recovery Center as a beacon of hope for individuals who are determined to regain control of their lives. Making initiatives like Wildwood and now the proposed women’s facility a priority not only strengthens families and communities, it is essential to improving our workforce and economic development opportunities.”
The Wildwood Recovery Center will be the first facility operated by ARC outside of Kentucky.
ARC is a provider of comprehensive treatment services for individuals with substance-use disorder and operates a network of more than 30 treatment programs across Eastern and Central Kentucky.
Its model is a four-phase, yearlong program that combines treatment, primary care, counseling and peer support with life skills, education, and job training to set up clients for long-term success, the release states.