A Safe Place.
By Marilyn Thomas.
In the recovery journey from substance abuse, finding and engaging in a strong support system promotes optimum success. For this reason, The Courage Center works to fulfill its role as a community resource that encourages healthy behaviors. Established in Lexington in 2016, The Courage Center (TCC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “provide a safe, supportive setting for all ages and their families on their journey to recovery from substance misuse or substance use disorder,” says Pam Imm, Ph.D., a co-founder of TCC.
As a clinical and community psychologist, “I had done a lot of prevention work in Lexington and around the state,” says Dr. Imm. “I was approached by parents who realized that their young adult son was struggling with addiction, and there was no available support system for him. She asked me to help her start someplace like this,” she recalls. “There was no recovery community organization in Lexington, and we had a lot of unmet needs.”
Because of the chronic nature of addiction, those who struggle with substance misuse experience better outcomes when they can access continual support after they complete an inpatient or outpatient treatment program. Initially, TCC was an outreach mission of Mount Horeb Church until it became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. TCC’s target population in the beginning was predominantly youth, young adults, and families. “About 18 months ago,” Dr. Imm says, “it was clear that we had to expand to serve everyone, regardless of age. A lot of times, when family members come in and talk about challenges with their youth, it’s not unusual for them to disclose that they, too, are struggling, and so we’ve got a variety of resources for that,” she explains.
Support services at TCC include recovery coaching delivered by certified peer support specialists, family and peer support groups, substance-free social events, life-skills training, and counseling with licensed professionals. Partnerships, which are essential to TCC’s success, involve entities such as law enforcement, medical providers (e.g., Lexington Medical Center), vocational rehabilitation, community coalitions, churches, media outlets, and volunteers. Dr. Imm remarks, “From January through November of 2023, TCC served 526 unique individuals with in-person and virtual coaching sessions, and made 255 referrals to a community organization.”
Additional activities of TCC include reducing stigma and promoting harm reduction through community outreach. Publicized by social media platforms, TCC staff hosts pop-up events in “hot spot” areas where the potential for overdosing exists. At these activities, TCC personnel provide Narcan and fentanyl test strips to the public to reduce and prevent overdose deaths. Also, the nonprofit organization sponsors a special event in Lexington for International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31.
The 4.2-acre TCC headquarters are located at 860 Park Road in Lexington where the main building features a warm and open floor plan with friendly, trendy counseling space, while the outdoor facility includes a basketball court for shooting hoops and a picnic shelter for hosting social gatherings. “One of our coaches who works with youth plays basketball out there with his participants,” says Dr. Imm. “He always says that they reveal a lot more on the basketball court than they do sitting across a desk from someone.” That recovery coach is Jessie Franklin, a certified peer support specialist. “The Courage Center to me means a safe space for recovery,” he says, “a nonjudgmental, understanding, loving place where folks come to unite and fight the battles of the illness that some of us carry around in this world, and I’m a person in long-term recovery.” While a student at River Bluff High School, Coach Franklin enjoyed playing sports until he was prescribed opioids after a car accident. Following a near-fatal fentanyl
overdose, he entered treatment and completed his schooling. “Here I am today,” he says, “living my life, active in my church, trying to be a positive example and advocate for recovery.”
TCC services are provided at no cost to its participants. Local, state, and federal grants, donations, and annual community fundraisers are the primary sources of funding. “We have a breakfast in May,” says Dr. Imm, “and host a golf tournament in September, otherwise known as “recovery month.” Because of its consequential work, expansion opportunities have blossomed for the nonprofit; TCC recently opened a location at the Boozer Shopping Center in Richland County and have secured a building in Orangeburg on Holly Street. TCC outreach services will also be extended by placing peer support coaches in the emergency department of Lexington Medical Center in the future. For current information and details regarding available services, resources, and volunteer opportunities, contact the TCC office or browse their media platforms.
The Courage Center 
860 Park Rd., Lexington, SC 29072
CourageCenterSC.org
803-369-3905
