The innovative residential housing and graduate housing program is a groundbreaking step in the treatment and care of mothers with substance use disorders and their children.
CHAPEL HILL, NC – UNC Horizons, worldwide leaders in providing transformative care to mothers affected by substance use disorders and their children, announced the Horizons Homestead project today. Horizons Homestead will provide 32 units of affordable housing for Horizon’s program participants and housing for recent graduates, a crucial addition to their renowned treatment program.
The project plans to break ground in the spring of 2022. Horizons Homestead will be one of the centerpieces of the 2200 Homestead Road project, a mixed-income community that will include housing, community gardens, green spaces, trails and play areas in a location convenient to transit and services.
“Safe, affordable housing is a cornerstone of recovery and an essential foundation for families to thrive,” said Dr. Hendrée E. Jones, Executive Director of UNC Horizons. “The Horizons Homestead project removes the largest barrier families face in recovery. When families have safe, stable, affordable housing, they can more easily stay well and succeed.”
The Horizons Homestead apartment community will create a permanent residential community for mothers and their children participating in the program integrated into a diverse and conveniently located neighborhood. This location will allow families access to treatment services at Horizon’s state-of-the-art facility in Carrboro, along with support from the UNC Horizons team. Residents will also have access to additional community resources such as high-ranking public schools, a free public bus system, job opportunities, health care, town recreational activities and more.
The Horizons graduate housing program represents an innovative model in the United States. For the first time on a meaningful scale, Horizons will offer affordable graduate apartments to mothers and their children at the Horizons Homestead community to support the long-term recovery of women who complete residential treatment. This housing gives graduates the ability to pursue educational and employment goals while having access to a community of peers and Horizons staff members to provide social support and stability to sustain their recovery.
Horizons Homestead is a collaborative effort between the Town of Chapel Hill, Self-Help, and CASA to support UNC Horizons’ unique approach to the treatment of substance use disorders. Of the projected approximately $5 million construction and maintenance cost, Horizons has raised over $3 million already and plans to raise the remaining $2 million through private donations in 2021.
“Support of Horizons Homestead helps ensure that women have safe housing for themselves and their children after treatment and keeps them from returning to what can often be an abusive home situation,” said Jodie Gisser, Director of Development, Women’s Health. “Every gift to Horizons is an investment in their long-term recovery and increases the overall life chances for themselves and their children.”
For more information, visit the Horizons website and follow UNC Horizons on Facebook. For more information about making a gift, please contact Jodie Gisser jodie_gisser@med.unc.edu or 919-538-3171.
About UNC Horizons:
The mission of UNC Horizons is to provide world-class, empowering and transformative interdisciplinary care to women and their children affected by substance use disorders. Since opening its doors in 1993, UNC Horizons has provided innovative integrated medical and behavioral health care to over 5,500 pregnant and parenting women and allows children to remain with their mothers throughout the process.
A program of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill, Horizons has sites in both Orange and Wake Counties. Confidential, recovery-oriented, and for women only, their trauma-responsive model of care focuses on both the mother and the child to heal the whole family and create systems of hope and renewal. UNC Horizons also serves as a model across the world to improve women’s and children’s lives and trains local and international scholars and providers to implement their model of care.