Health & Wellness
Home Page photo: Mollie Bolick, Executive Director of Homestead Recovery Center, and Katlynd Taylor, LEAD Case Manager, conducting overdose reversal trainings along King St. on Overdose Awareness Day 2025. Above: Homestead Recovery Center Staff in Boone, NC
No Tough Love, Just Love Tough
By Pan McCaslin
No Tough Love, just Love Tough best describes the mission for Homestead Recovery Center, an effective peer-led program that offers support, resources and compassion for people affected by substance use in the High Country, recognizing that the most effective solutions for recovery come from within the communities most impacted by substance use.
“All of our staff are people with lived experience—meaning we have personal experience with substance use disorder and/or mental health challenges, and often previous involvement with the justice system—demonstrating to our clients that we understand the difficulties of recovery and modeling that a different way of life is possible,” shared Mollie Bolick, Director of Homestead Recovery Center (HRC). “We serve a resilient population and our staff are honored to get to be with, and support them, through complex life circumstances.”
A project of the Mediation and Restorative Justice Center (MRJC), a 501c3 organization founded in 1993 to provide mediation and restorative justice services, today Homestead Recovery Center serves as an access point for peer-led recovery in Watauga and Avery counties. Through a collaboration between Bolick and Marisa Cornell, Executive Director of the Mediation and Restorative Justice Center, a vision for a way to broaden the success of restorative processes to meet a broader range of community needs was born, expanding into current day services.
In 2020, Bolick’s jail-based initiative, Recovery on the Inside, was adopted by MRJC alongside a new program, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD). Together, these two initiatives became the flagship programs of what would evolve into MRJC’s Homestead Recovery Center and its peer-led services.
Peer-led approaches recognize that people with lived experience understand the barriers, the language, the culture, and the realities of recovery in ways that traditional systems often cannot. “We are closest to the solution because we are closest to the problem,” Bolick shared. “Our staff are not outsiders looking in—we are people who have walked these roads ourselves, who know what it feels like to lose hope, and who know what it looks like to rebuild a life. That shared experience creates trust, and trust is what makes recovery possible.”
By elevating the voices of those with lived experience, HRC not only provides services, it builds community—one where healing is not prescribed from the outside, but grown from within. HRC currently offers key programs that provide support, trust, and resources.
In partnership with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, Recovery on the Inside, housed at the Watauga County Detention Center, offers pretrial diversion before sentencing, reentry planning, peer support, and linkage to care at release for those who choose to engage with the program. 120 individuals were served by this program during 2024.
Watauga LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) provides intensive case management for clients who are at risk of justice system involvement because of underlying substance use or mental health challenges. Katlynd Taylor, Watauga LEAD case manager, shared, “We meet our clients where they are. We know we cannot help everyone, but we can invite people in and provide unconditional care and support, knowing we can’t control the outcome.” The LEAD program also offers peer support, recovery support, financial support for treatment and supportive living, linkage to clinical services, outreach, advocacy, and transportation. In 2024, 255 individuals were served through the LEAD program.
Peer Services are open to anyone in the community to help provide a supportive space to meet basic needs and work toward achieving wellness and recovery goals. Services include: Full day center offerings including showers, laundry facilities, a full kitchen, and living room space. Basic supplies include clothing, food, hygiene, and overdose prevention supplies and education. The day center also facilitates all HRC groups, meetings, training courses, and events. Participants checked in to Peer Services 4,049 times in 2024.
A workforce development program, The Reentry Service Station, assists people reentering the community after incarceration or other gaps in employment. Key services include critical document assistance (i.e., obtaining IDs and copies of Birth Certificate or Social Security Cards), transportation, financial assistance for items such as work boots or uniforms, and peer support. 63 individuals were served by the Reentry Service Station in 2024.
The Homeplace Recovery Housing program provides the only recovery housing in Watauga County. Prior to its opening, individuals seeking supportive living during recovery were forced to relocate outside the county, often leaving behind their families, children, and community ties. With two NC Association of Recovery Residences (NCARR) accredited homes—a men’s residence (capacity nine) and a women’s residence (capacity six)—participants can recover in their homeplace, surrounded by familiar people and support networks. Residents share responsibility for household care, develop independent living skills, and receive ongoing peer support and case management to help connect them to employment, education, healthcare, and community resources.
The Avery RV (Recovery Vehicle) is a community-based initiative involving mobile peer support, case management, and court advocacy services in Avery County to support individuals dealing with substance use who may face barriers to access treatment.
In rural communities, many calls to law enforcement stem from challenges such as poverty, mental health, substance use, intimate partner violence, and homelessness. In partnership with the Town of Boone Police Department, the Community Care Program was launched in 2024 to provide a full-time social worker assigned to the police department. This professional serves as an onsite resource and co-responder with law enforcement. The program will expand in 2026 to include a co-response team of a designated officer and peer support specialist for response to social need calls.
HRC does not endorse or require any single model of recovery, recognizing recovery is not one-size-fits-all and that everyone needs the space, time, and support to discover what works best for them. What remains universal, however, is the need for connection and community. To support this, HRC provides a welcoming hub where multiple recovery pathways are honored and accessible. The center hosts 12-Step meetings, SMART Recovery groups, peer support circles, and health and wellness programming, while also assisting with transportation to treatment and other services. Rather than prescribing a specific route, HRC walks alongside individuals as they shape their own path toward healing.
Both MRJC and Homestead Recovery Center are primarily funded by grants and foundation awards. When asked how the community could help support the recovery work, both Bolick and Cornell agreed: their greatest need is financial support. Financial contributions allow for flexibility to respond when something unplanned happens, bridge the gaps when grants are paused or delayed, and cover essential expenses that may fall outside of program budgets. Leadership emphasized that most importantly, financial donations allow HRC to stay ready and responsive—to keep the doors open and supportive services available when the community needs them most.
During 2024, 1,212 peer support sessions were held, 306 case management sessions were held, and 1,730 overdose reversal kits were distributed. Educational offerings can be found in the 2024 Annual Report at homesteadrecoverync.org, as well as ways to donate or otherwise get involved to support recovery services in Watauga and Avery counties.
Substance use and addiction continue to deeply impact individuals, families, and entire communities—disrupting relationships, housing stability, employment, health, and often leading to legal involvement. From its inception, Homestead Recovery Center has taken a collaborative, community-rooted approach to addressing these challenges. Staff and volunteers work side-by-side with law enforcement, social services, healthcare partners, and local recovery networks to ensure that all people have access to compassionate support, practical resources, and pathways for a self-directed life.