Freedom House

Providing services for support for recovery

Hussey is executive director of Freedom House Recovery Center in Chapel Hill, a non-profit facility founded in 1974. Along with alcohol and drug addiction, some clients also battle mental illness. Freedom House aids people through a range of recovery-centered services and support such as detox programs and halfway houses. They helped nearly 1,400 adults last year.

"We are one of the only centers around that provides long-term treatment for people without regard to their ability to pay," Hussey said.

It's a challenge to provide that level of service, she said. The commitment to help people transition back to their communities takes money and resources.

"We have a lot of people with a whole lot of need," she said.

Christie Green came to Freedom House in 1998. She was a recovering addict who had used cocaine, crack, even guzzled Nyquil for a high. "They taught me how to be a responsible, honest and productive member of society," she said.

Green has been clean for seven years and for the last four, a Freedom House health care counselor. "I love showing up for work and helping people like people helped me," she said.

Staff at Freedom House assist recovering addicts in getting GEDS, finding jobs, saving money, learning the tools they need to survive and flourish. "If you leave here and are clean and sober, if you don't have the basics of life, you will probably relapse," Hussey said.

As the population in the Triangle swells, growing numbers of people come to agency for help. To meet the rising need, Freedom House will expand in coming years. The old detox building will be replaced with a new one and Habitat for Humanity has partnered with them to build a community outpatient center.

"We're running out of space," Hussey said.

Along with monetary donations, the agency needs men's and women's clothing, gloves, socks, towels, linens.

Hussey advises people to call Freedom House at 942-2803 if they would like to donate items. For every story of struggle, there's one of hope and transformation. The contractor who once battled addiction has rebuilt his business. The mother, who lived in her car, now has her children back and is thriving.

"It's a place we never think we'll find ourselves in, but some people do, through quirks of fate, accidents of life," Hussey said.

Freedom House is there to make the difference, one person at a time.