Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Substance Use Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents and recovery workers urge commissioners to fund permanent 12‑step clubhouse
Summary
Multiple public commenters, including people in long‑term recovery and addiction‑treatment professionals, urged Haywood County commissioners to use opioid‑settlement funds to secure a permanent 12‑step recovery clubhouse, saying a fixed location would sustain sobriety and community support.
Several Haywood County residents urged the Board of Commissioners to use opioid‑settlement money to create a permanent 12‑step recovery clubhouse that would host Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and similar peer groups.
"A dedicated 12‑step recovery clubhouse in Haywood County would be an immeasurable gift to our entire community," said Trey Balance, who described relapsing after 10 years sober and finding support through club meetings. Balance asked that the county allocate a portion of the opioid settlement to either build or acquire a clubhouse run by volunteers from the recovery community.
Will Pauley, a registered nurse and certified addictions counselor, said sober clubhouses provide permanence and peer support that outpatient treatment alone often does not. "It provided a sense of permanence, reliability, and a sense of community and stability that I very much needed," Pauley said, describing how clubhouses helped him maintain recovery after formal treatment.
Speakers representing the newly organized Camel Club — a 501(c)(3) group advocated by Tom Murphy — presented local need estimates and recounted previous clubhouse locations that closed during COVID. "We need it where people can come. We need it where there's a sign on the door that says Camel Club," Murphy said, describing rotating meeting spaces and lease losses.
Other public commenters, including CJ Deering who said he helped start a jail‑based recovery program, cited local health data: Deering said the county emergency room saw "over 600 opioid ODs" last year and that drug‑related deaths accounted for a significant share of local mortality in 2022. He urged investment in community‑based recovery supports rather than relying solely on costly drug‑court outcomes.
After public comment, commissioners and staff asked for contact information and whether meeting schedules could be publicized; staff pointed audiences to regional meeting listings and said they would work with speakers to explore permanent space options. The board did not take a formal funding vote at the meeting but commissioners said they would study the proposal and staff would follow up on space and publicity options.
