Statements
Mission
Samaritan Recovery Community provides compassionate care in a discrimination-free environment to each of our patients and staff, seeking to empower anyone struggling with substance use disorder to achieve lasting recovery, hope, and purpose.
Background
Samaritan Recovery Community, Inc. (Samaritan) emerged from the compassionate hearts of community members in Nashville in 1964 when a group of ministers recognized the need to support homeless men struggling with alcoholism and started Samaritan to address that. Based on community needs in 1975, the ministers opened an additional space to provide residential addiction treatment services to women. In 2000, Samaritan expanded again by adding three recovery homes throughout Nashville that served as safe, stable, alcohol and drug-free places to reside post-treatment. In 2014, those operations were moved onto Samaritan's main treatment campus.
Over the last 60 years, Samaritan has evolved into a comprehensive community-based addiction treatment center for anyone. Throughout this time, our core principle of providing compassionate care, regardless of the ability to pay, has remained steadfast. Samaritan has been tested over the decades with economic hardships, changing treatment modalities, and a pandemic, but our organization has consistently overcome them. We are committed to continue serving our community through our evidence-based, compassionate continuum of care model that moves people from addiction to recovery for a lifetime.
Impact
Samaritan Recovery Community is a nonprofit addiction treatment center that provides the whole continuum of care to people suffering from substance use disorder in Middle Tennessee. Across all our programs, we take an individualized approach designed to help ensure that those entering our care have the best possible chance of long-term recovery beyond discharge. Our continuum includes social detoxification, intensive residential treatment, transitional living, affordable sober living residences, intensive outpatient programming, a comprehensive family support program, and an alumni community for long-term peer support.
We believe that everyone suffering from substance use disorder deserves the highest quality of care possible in an environment that preserves and promotes the dignity of the human person without regard to race, color, creed, gender, socio-economic or social circumstance, orientation, or national origin. As we stand on the cusp of our 60th year of service, Samaritan's legacy of providing addiction treatment to Tennessee's most underserved and under-resourced remains undeterred. Through community support, Samaritan will double its capacity in 2024, illuminating a brighter path to twice as many of our brothers and sisters out of the darkness of addiction.
Samaritan's programs provide the full continuum of care to support individuals on their path to recovery from addiction. Our comprehensive programs allow patients to stay at our facility in some cases for up to one year and include transition plans, money management, parenting and family coping skills, education opportunities, job attainment skills, mental and physical health care, individual and group counseling, and more.
Rooted in the principles of the 12-step program, we advocate for a lifetime of recovery. Our team, with over 50% of staff members in long-term recovery, not only imparts knowledge but also embodies the transformative power of recovery. We use the GAF system to determine clients' well-being and create an individualized continuing care plan to give them the best chance at long-term recovery.
We recognize that proper recovery encompasses a comprehensive mind, body, and soul approach. Grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and supported by our skilled medical professionals, our approach to achieving long-term recovery for our patients is woven into every facet of our addiction treatment center, where compassionate care empowers individuals on their unique path to long-term recovery and well-being.
Our doors are open to all, offering support and guidance regardless of finances. We address current and future challenges, ensuring a holistic approach that equips patients for a thriving life beyond treatment.
Our abstinent rate is significantly higher than the national CY2018 TEDS average successful completion of treatment rate of 32%. Our focus on holistic well-being is highlighted by the substantial increase of 14 points in participants' GAF scores-an essential measure of their ability to function effectively in society. Moreover, 60-75% of our clients have remained sober at their 90-day post-treatment follow-up-starkly contrasting the national average of 22-24%.
Needs
The need for Samaritan Recovery Community's programs in the greater Nashville community is evident against the backdrop of Tennessee's stark reality regarding addiction. Tennessee consistently ranks at the top of U.S. substance abuse rates, where substance use disorder affects 1 in 6 residents within our state's borders, resulting in over 2,100 overdose deaths yearly. This crisis also strains our healthcare system, with an annual expenditure surpassing $600,000,000 to address the repercussions of alcohol and drug abuse. We can personally attest to the need because we have a waiting list across our programs. Recently, an article from the Tennessean stated that Nashville metro had the second-highest rate of overdose deaths in the United States in 2022. Davidson County leads Tennessee in overdose deaths.
The need for Samaritan's expansion across all our programs in Middle Tennessee has arisen from several interconnected factors, reflecting the profound and escalating challenges associated with substance abuse in the Middle Tennessee region and the broader context of the national opioid epidemic.
CEO Statement
Samaritan has a lengthy name, but it was very carefully chosen. Samaritan comes from a well-known story of someone who showed an abundant amount of compassion to someone who did not look to be deserving. This is integral to the mission of Samaritan, which is to provide compassionate care in a discrimination free environment to help our patients achieve lasting recovery, hope and purpose. 78% of Samaritan patients do not have insurance and pay no money out of pocket for our services. Recovery is more than just a word, and more than just a 30 day period of life. We promote recovery as a way that each individual can be their best version of themselves. We promote recovery through our use of the 12 step program and focus on a lifetime of recovery, which we believe everyone can attain.
Over half of our staff are in recovery, so they walk the walk and can relate in a unique way with our patients. Community is a term that illustrates how Samaritan sees itself within the city of Nashville. The Samaritan experience does not have to end at discharge. We have transitional housing for those who need assistance transitioning back to work, we have affordable apartments on our campus for those who need permanent housing, we have intensive outpatient care for those who need additional assistance at discharge, we have aftercare for everyone to stay in touch after they complete the program, and we have a robust family program for family members who have been impacted by addiction.
Samaritan is special because we have great staff who love on the residents who come in and who believe that tough love cannot occur unless someone already feels loved. Our staff provide the most compassionate care by examining every decision related to a client through the lens of compassion. Samaritan is special because they are supported by a board who supports the mission while constantly seeking to improve. Evidence of this behavior can by seen by our expansion into a new 70,000 square foot building, more than doubling our capacity to help our community by expanding from 56 to 130 beds. I am fortunate to work with a board who supports Samaritan and myself at every turn. We are also blessed to have an alumni on our board, which helps us continue to always focus on the needs of our clients.
Sincerley,
Dr. Mark Lasko, CEO
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - Substance Abuse Treatment |
| Secondary Category: | Housing, Shelter - Temporary Housing |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Human Services NEC |
Areas Served
Samaritan Recovery Community is located in the heart of Nashville with easy access to interstate and bus routes and employment opportunities.
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Clay |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Cumberland |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - DeKalb |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Fentress |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Houston |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Jackson |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Lincoln |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Overton |
| TN - Perry |
| TN - Pickett |
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Smith |
| TN - Stewart |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Van Buren |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - Wayne |
| TN - White |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
