White Oak Hill will begin accepting clients this fall
BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Addiction Recovery Care founder and CEO Tim Robinson is bringing his team’s mission of saving one life at a time to his hometown of Inez. Robinson hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 4 on the new men’s residential treatment center — White Oak Hill.
ARC, a national leader in treatment and recovery services, estimates the revitalization will create 50 local jobs at the former Inez Middle School. The $2.2 million renovated facility will offer the full scope of ARC’s nationally recognized “Crisis to Career” model, which marries personalized addiction treatment with educational opportunities and job training.
Robinson, whose family has deep personal roots in Martin County, noted the meaningful milestone the White Oak Hill project represents in expanding access to treatment and recovery options for local residents.
“I spent my childhood and early adult life here in this community, and I witnessed firsthand the stranglehold that addiction and poverty held over my friends and neighbors,” Robinson said. “My late father, former Martin County PVA Tim Robinson Sr., helped establish the Martin County SAVE program, which court-ordered those in addiction to education and prevention classes that included a faith-based component. Through this exciting new White Oak Hill project, we are proud to build upon that existing foundation to rescue and restore families, one life at a time.”
Participants in the ceremony included U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, State Senator Phillip Wheeler, State Representative Bobby McCool, State Representative Norma McCormick, and a host of local elected officials and community leaders.
Rogers applauded Robinson and developer Greg May for expanding treatment options in Appalachia.
“White Oak Hill will be a place of hope in Martin County as we continue our joint efforts to save lives and combat substance use disorder,” Rogers said. “The COVID pandemic caused anxiety, depression and substance abuse to skyrocket. Nationwide, we lost more than 100,000 people to overdose deaths last year, and approximately 2,000 of those were in Kentucky. So, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to save lives from this relentless disease.”
Gov. Beshear also spoke.
“We are proud of the work ARC is doing to restore hope and provide a second chance to Kentuckians in Martin County and across the region,” Beshear said. “The opening of White Oak Hill fills an urgent need for comprehensive, compassionate and evidence-based care, giving our fellow Kentuckians an opportunity to heal and rebuild their lives after recovering from addiction.”
ARC officials anticipate that the White Oak Hill facility will provide the capacity to serve 140 individuals once it begins accepting clients this fall.
ARC operates a network of more than 30 addiction treatment centers in 21 Eastern and Central Kentucky counties.
The White Oak Hill journey began in November 2020 when Martin County School Board officials approved the sale of the old Inez Middle School property to May, whose firm has worked with ARC in developing two other addiction treatment centers, Riverplace Men’s Treatment Center in Pike County and Creekside Women’s Treatment Center in Knott County.
Martin County is one of five communities nationwide participating in the ACT Now pilot collaborative, an initiative aimed at addressing “the root causes of poverty, systemic racism, and inequities in housing, health care, education, access to financial resources and promot[ing] justice and the rule of law.” According to Robinson, the program works to identify resources for local law enforcement agencies to better tackle issues like the drug epidemic.
For more information about ARC’s full array of recovery services, please visit arccenters.com.