DICKENSON COUNTY, Va. – As Virginia continues to experience the impacts of the addiction crisis, Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), in partnership with the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority, is moving forward with plans to bring a new comprehensive, residential treatment center to the region.
Wildwood Recovery Center will be located at 230 Chip Mill Road, near the Town of Clintwood. The site is part of a parcel that was purchased by the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority in 2021. The facility is expected to open by early 2024, with construction set to begin later this year.
Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) is a leading provider of comprehensive treatment services for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). Headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky, ARC operates a network of more than 30 treatment programs across Eastern and Central Kentucky. ARC’s nationally recognized “Crisis to Career” model is a four-phase, year-long program that combines SUD treatment, primary care, counseling and peer support with life skills, education and job training to set up clients for long-term success.
Since opening the doors to their first residential treatment center in 2010, ARC has served more than 50,000 clients. Wildwood Recovery Center is the company’s first announced out-of-state facility.
“Addiction Recovery Care has extensive experience delivering substance use disorder treatment in neighboring Eastern Kentucky. There, we have pioneered a successful treatment model providing the vocational and educational opportunities that people need for long-term recovery and that our communities need to strengthen their workforces and grow their economies. Now, we are excited to bring our mission to Dickenson County,” said Tim Robinson, Founder and CEO of Addiction Recovery Care. “Like Eastern Kentucky, Dickenson County is part of a region that has been hit especially hard by the addiction crisis. Unlike Eastern Kentucky, however, treatment options are limited for individuals with substance use disorder. We are excited to bring our Crisis to Career model to a community that will benefit greatly from having access to these services.”
The project is being funded, in part, by a $4 million loan awarded by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA). The loakn was approved in July 2022. An additional $2 million loan for the project was awarded by the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA). All remaining funding will be provided by the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors, Town of Clintwood and other County entities.
The new, one-story facility will include two, 7,000-square foot administrative buildings and six, 1,900-square foot dormitories, allowing ARC to serve up to 96 individuals in recovery at any given time. The residential facility will initially serve only male clients, but ARC hopes to expand the campus in the future to also include a women’s facility. Within its first year of operation, Wildwood Recovery Center will create approximately 30 new local jobs.
“I am pleased Dickenson County will now have a residential substance use treatment center for the region, an area hit hard by our country’s addiction crisis,” said U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09). “Comprehensive treatment services for individuals with substance use disorders are critical in helping Americans beat their addictions, rebuild their lives and reenter the workforce so they may reach their God-given potential.”
“ARC is grateful for the tremendous support and partnership we’ve received from the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority, Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, our developer Greg May and other local leaders to move this project forward,” Robinson added.
“This project really sprung to life in 2022, but has been in the works for close to two and a half years. Under the county’s newly adopted economic development plan, there has been a unified vision between the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors and the Industrial Development Authority. Both groups have been supportive of the project, and we could not be more thankful for the partnership with Mr. May and ARC and their willingness to locate in Dickenson County,” said Dana Cronkhite, Dickenson County Director of Economic Development.
Cronkhite, a Dickenson County native, has a background in mental health and worked in the behavioral health industry prior to taking the position in Dickenson County.
“ARC’s ‘Crisis to Career’ treatment model has proven to be effective in their 30-plus facilities throughout Kentucky by providing people and families the tools needed to give them hope for a better future. I am eager for our community to learn more about this all-encompassing program and the long-term success and benefits that it carries, not just for the individual, but for our region and the Commonwealth of Virginia as a whole,” Cronkhite added.
“We are thrilled to work with the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority to bring treatment to those who are struggling with addiction and to help get them back into the workforce, all while creating new local jobs,” said Greg May, facility developer. “ARC’s Crisis to Career model has worked throughout Eastern Kentucky, and I am confident that it will benefit Southwest Virginia, as well. I am impressed with the hard work and time that the Industrial Development Authority and local elected officials have put forward into making this a possibility for the people of Dickenson County, and I share their commitment to the project’s success.”
“The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority was privileged to provide a portion of the financing for Dickenson County’s first long-term, inpatient addiction treatment facility. By creating new, higher-paying jobs in Virginia and establishing a healing path forward for families suffering from the chronic disease of addiction, this project could not have been a better mission fit for VSBFA,” said Linda Tackett, Regional Lending Manager for the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA).
A groundbreaking event is being planned for Spring 2023.
For more information, please visit arccenters.com/wildwood-recovery-center.
“To be able to serve people out of state in another community, we're absolutely thrilled about that because we know addiction doesn't stop on state lines," Vanessa Keeton, ARC’s VP of Marketing told WCYB.
“We’re investing a lot of our time and effort into that later phase, vocational housing and trying to find these people things that they can accomplish while they’re in treatment to help propel them into a future job and career after they leave treatment,” Matt Bradley, ARC’s Director of Business Development told WJHL.
