Proposed 200-acre North Georgia project aims to help addiction crisis, transform lives

A new nonprofit called Healthy Foundations wants to offer comprehensive counseling and addiction management services unlike any other service in North Georgia on 200 acres in Catoosa County.

If the plan comes to fruition, the $50 million campus will include counseling rooms, medical and dental care offices, housing, classrooms, a chapel, daycare center, clothing boutique, an industrial kitchen and dining area. Recreation opportunities - including equestrian activities, tennis and volleyball courts, a baseball field, walking trails, a pool and theatre - as well as a "workforce hub" to teach skills ranging from automotive and food service to cosmetology and IT - are also part of the ambitious plan.

Catoosa County Commission Chairman Steven Henry said that counseling and services for substance use disorders are desperately needed in the wake of the opioid epidemic. Henry said he supports the idea of the project coming to the county, but he wants to make sure the location is right.

"I haven't talked to anyone who is against the facility," Henry said. "I have talked to people who have some concerns on the location of it."

The proposed location for the project is less than 2 miles from Tiger Creek Elementary School in Tunnel Hill, Georgia.

Partners behind the Healthy Foundations project said it's modeled after the City of Refuge in Atlanta - a place that helps individuals and families transition out of crisis by providing all the services they need in one location through community partners specialized in health and wellness, transitional housing, vocational training and job placement assistance, and youth development. That facility houses a school on site and hasn't had any issues, said Healthy Foundations CEO and president DeLaine Hunter.

Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk

Hunter said the campus will provide counseling and addiction management to adults, children and families, but it will not offer psychiatric treatment for individuals with mental illness. If people need psychiatric care, they will be referred to outside providers. Although some clients may have criminal records, no sex offenders will be allowed on campus.

"That's a big thing, because that's a big thing with commissioners and that's a big thing with the constituents here. We want to make sure that everybody understands what we're not going to be doing," Hunter said.

If the project is approved, it could be ready to open in about two years and employ between 75 and 100 people, she said.

Healthy Foundations will offer several town halls where community members can get more information. On Sept. 24, the Catoosa County Planning Commission will vote to recommend the project or not, and on Oct. 15 the full commission will decide if it's approved.

Ringgold counseling provider Center of Hope and CIMDEX - a company that measures social impact - are two community partners behind Healthy Foundations. CIMDEX CEO Terry Tucker was part of launching City of Refuge in Atlanta and brings his knowledge of that model to the Healthy Foundations project in Catoosa County.

Tucker said the evidence-based model created by The Brookings Institute is "a different way of serving people in need" that gives people the skills to move from a state of disruption to a place of self sufficiency.

"It's not just about having people in one place. It's bringing the services to the people and being able to walk with them even after they get their initial care," Tucker said. "This methodology has kind of taken off, but there's not one that has this amount of preplanning, programming - this will be the biggest one in the country."

Funding will come through grants, private foundations, corporate partners, individual donors and capital campaigns, officials said. The organization will also accept fee-for-service insurance reimbursements.

Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk knows firsthand what it's like to deal with mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, the opioid epidemic and behavioral health complications. He sees it every day in the community he oversees, the surrounding areas and in his own jail.

The way Sisk sees it, people who are recovering from addiction, have behavioral issues or just need some sort of stabilization and rehabilitation have a few options in Catoosa County: they can visit the Lookout Mountain Community Services outpatient clinic, they can visit statewide organizations closer to Atlanta or they can spend a night or two in jail.

"We're seeing and dealing with it every day," Sisk said. "A lot of it is being put on emergency services and law enforcement. There are a number of people in the jail that could use some sort of community support but they're limited to what's offered."

People get caught up in crisis or stressful situations every day. Sisk said that it's important for not only his line of work but for a community's well-being for people who are struggling to find the real help they need instead of being locked up.

"We're talking about the people who are not a menace to society," he said. "They might have to come to jail, but I'm not set up to treat behavioral health. They really need counseling that can help them become more even-keeled in society."

Sisk added that for people seeking rehab, counseling or any other service the facility might offer, the peace of mind that a local facility could offer can do wonders for the community.

Catoosa County Schools Superintendent Denia Reese

County School District Superintendent Denia Reese said she has spoken with Sisk on and off in the last four months since the plan came to her desk.

"He and I share a common goal that student safety is always our number one priority," Reese wrote in an email last week. "I have been in constant contact with Sheriff Sisk since he began serving on this committee, and I have complete confidence in Sheriff Sisk to keep our children and our community safe."

Reese added that she knows "mental health issues and addiction are increasing in our society, and our citizens in Catoosa have limited access to support services and treatment in our community."

If the proposed facility were a traditional state-run psychiatric hospital, Sisk wouldn't be for it, he said. As for people worried about living close to a facility designed to help those in need, Sisk doesn't understand the feeling.

"They very well may be your neighbor living across the street," he said. "Why not create a facility to keep them in the community and provide them with continued counseling?"

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.

Contact Elizabeth Fite at efite@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.