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Program Description

Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (ROSA is a two-year residential substance abuse recovery program located in Durham, North Carolina with the following mission: o assist in changing lives and increasing law-abiding behavior by providing a self-supporting, two-year, residential, self-help community serving offenders and substance abusers at no cost to the individuals.To this end, TROSA operates a highly structured and disciplined program from several residential, educational, and administrative facilities in Durham, and currently serves more than 300 individuals. TROSA accepts substance abusers with one condition: they must have a strong desire to change their lives. The TROSA philosophy is based on principles of self-help and individual empowerment. Key elements of the program include vocational training, education, communication, peer counseling/mentoring, leadership training and aftercare.

TROSA is a unique entrepreneurial nonprofit organization, developing program-run business enterprises that serve as job training venues as well as revenue sources for the organization, which provides room and board, as well as its services, free of charge. While at TROSA, residents provide a great deal of administrative and operational support to the program in areas such as transportation, automotive, security, in-kind donation solicitation, food services, office support, and warehousing. Residents also may work in areas such as moving, lawn care, painting, masonry, custom picture framing, or contract temporary labor that generate revenue and subsequently help TROSA support itself financially. The program vocational training programs are described in greater detail later in this document.

Background

In 1994, Kevin McDonald was hired to lead a new North Carolina nonprofit organization: Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, or TROSA.Created just two years earlier to assist in changing lives and increasing law-abiding behavior by providing a self-supporting, two-year, residential, self-help community serving offenders and substance abusers at no cost to the individuals, TROSA is now the largest therapeutic community in North Carolina.TROSA is widely respected among those who worry most about the impact of substance abuse on individuals, families and communities.And its new model for building its financial base has attracted a great deal of attention in the nonprofit world.

TROSA is the two-year home to over 300 residents.Most are between 31 and 50 years of age.Drawn from across the United States, about eighty percent of our residents are from North Carolina.Most have struggled with addiction to drugs or alcohol for over ten years and 70% have participated in other treatment programs.Ninety percent have a criminal record and about half come to TROSA as an alternative to immediate incarceration.Nearly 75% are minorities, and 80% are male.Over 20% identify themselves as homeless when they arrive. /span>Some have serious health problems.Some do not read and write, and nearly half left high school without graduating.TROSA discriminates in no way, and welcomes people from all walks of life as long as they display a genuine desire to change their lives for the better.

In addition to learning to live free of their addictions, residents advance their education through study at local colleges, improve their interpersonal skills through intensive group sessions, and learn how to re-enter the community. TROSA ach one teach onesystem helps residents learn important life skills and vocational skills.And through our aftercare program, TROSA graduates are assisted with their job search and placement, with community housing, with acquiring their first cars and licenses, and with maintenance of their new, drug-free lives.Today, more than a third of TROSA graduates continue their involvement with the after-care program, participating in bi-monthly support groups to ensure that they sustain their recoveries and successfully re-enter mainstream society.

The formula works. TROSA has graduated over 500 people from the program. For these individuals, even though they face a lifetime of recovery, experience is fundamentally changed.Lives formerly characterized by personal pain and failure, by damaged relationships with friends and family, and by alienation from their communities, are now buoyed by a new sense of caring, and a new sense of hope and promise.

Since the first residents were accepted into the program, TROSA has served over 2,500 men and women.Its facilities include a 25,000 square foot residential facility, over twenty transitional housing units for senior residents and graduates, several warehouses and business facilities, and a 13-acre campus that is the site for administrative offices (and future housing site). Most properties were acquired in poor condition and transformed into usable space by the skill and determination of the residents and staff.

 Vocational Training Programs/Businesses

Perhaps the most unusual feature of the TROSA program involves its businesses/vocational training programs where residents develop the professional skills, work ethic, and sense of responsibility that will help them survive after TROSA.Current training programs include: local and inter-state moving; masonry; painting; lawn care and lot clearing; catering; contract labor services; custom framing; and auto repair.TROSA residents are generally responsible for all phases of the business programs including job planning, estimates, work scheduling, crew supervision, and resource allocation. TROSA also has an in-house construction department that renovates and maintains program buildings and develops housing for program residents and transitional housing for graduates.

The largest and most well developed of the businesses is TROSA Moving. Begun in 1994 with one Ryder truck the moving company grew, from that point on, ne truck at a time.span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Today it is licensed in 48 states, ranks as one of the largest moving companies in the highly competitive RTP area of North Carolina, and accomplishes about 5,000 moves each year.

Revenue from TROSA businesses amounts to about half of the organization budget each year, producing a level of self-sufficiency for TROSA that is almost unheard of in the nonprofit sector. The people who purchase TROSA services have a chance to change their perceptions of addicts as street people and criminals as they see the residents present a professional appearance and demeanor, and fulfill the expectations of their jobs. And, most importantly, the TROSA residents who staff the growing enterprises get to experience first hand - often for the first time - the pride of work well done and the pleasure of success.

Education

In addition to this vocational training, TROSA residents participate in educational programs ranging from adult literacy and General Equivalency Diploma (GED) classes to community college courses.Over 25% of TROSA incoming residents do not have a high school diploma or the equivalent.Individuals lacking a high school degree must pursue a GED.Following the workday, these individuals participate in literacy and GED classes offered by the Durham Literacy Council and Durham Technical Community College.Local college students also provide individualized tutoring for residents in these classes.In addition, twenty-five TROSA residents are enrolled in evening college programs.We currently have volunteers teaching residents Microsoft Word, and also offer basic computer skills classes to interested residents. Qualified residents teach fellow residents a variety of vocational skills.Residents also benefit from daily seminars and specialized classes taught by volunteers, residents, and graduates.Individual and group encounter sessions complete the TROSA educational experience.

In recent years, TROSA has added a Scholars Program for graduates of the 2-year program. Participants in the Scholars Program have all academic expenses covered by TROSA, as well as room and board, while attending school full-time at a local college or vocational school. In exchange, these individuals agree to work at TROSA in some capacity to the extent possible based on their school schedule.

Workout and Aftercare

As individuals approach their final three months as a resident of TROSA, they enter a phase in the program known as orkoutLeading up to workout, residents are taught a variety of skills that will help them as they seek employment and when they graduate the program. TROSA provides assistance during the job search process, and residents begin outside employment during this time. Paychecks are deposited in a savings account and given to the individuals upon graduation, so they will have some funds to get started on their own.

Graduates have the opportunity to purchase used vehicles donated to the TROSA program and repaired by residents in the automotive department. Graduates are only charged the price of the parts needed to repair the vehicle, and TROSA will not charge graduates for auto repair labor on the vehicle as long as they remain n good standing For individuals who are unable to obtain their drivers license, TROSA will provide transportation to and from work for up to one year after graduation.

Graduates may also enter TROSA Housing, which houses individuals with other clean and sober graduates. The housing is low-cost, furnished, and includes all utilities. When graduates move on to their own apartments, TROSA will even provide them with furnishings for their new home.

Graduates in good standing are welcome to TROSA for meals daily, as well as a variety of social events. Group meetings are held every other week to provide continued support to graduates moving forward. Regular attendance at group meetings or involvement in other TROSA activities is required for those who wish to benefit from the full range of aftercare services provided.

Favorite Links

TROSA

TROSA Moving

Transit Systems

 

TROSA is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization. Its businesses not only train workers, but also provide financial support for its therapeutic program. Though TROSA earns sustaining income this way, tax-deductible donations are still crucial to help us maintain and expand our program. You may donate now, online via the Network for Good.

Simply click here:

For more information on how you can help, please see our Donations page or send an email to development@trosainc.org.