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Guilford County leaders and staff gathered on October 14 to announce the progress in the county’s efforts to address homelessness and substance abuse—the upcoming opening of the Reverend Prince Edward Graves Recovery and Treatment Center, the county’s first long-term residential treatment facility.
“This is really a dream come true for not only Guilford County, but this entire surrounding area,” said Commissioner Melvin “Skip” Alston during remarks. “Our manager and our staff have been working diligently on this project for the past two and a half, three years.”
The center, a former nursing home that has been renovated into a recovery facility, is named in honor of the late Reverend Prince Edward Graves, longtime pastor of St. James Baptist Church and a respected community leader. Rev. Graves founded the first homeless shelter in Guilford County in the basement of his church on West Florida Street, provided meals for children before school, and helped develop affordable housing and daycare centers throughout Greensboro.
“This facility is named after a great man who happened to be my mentor and my former pastor,” Alston said. “He cared about people, and he acted on that care. That’s why it’s named in his honor.”
Commissioner Alston explained that the project was born out of conversations with people experiencing homelessness during the county’s 2022 Point-in-Time count.
“I talked with the people that were out there in the woods, sleeping under tents, under bridges, on the sidewalks,” he said. “They said they wanted help, but recovery centers only kept them for two to three weeks. We said, ‘If you had a long-term treatment center that would help you get back on your feet, will you go?’ And all of them said, ‘Yes.’ That’s why we sparked this venture.”
The new facility will house 54 residents — 40 in short-term recovery programs of up to 90 days and 14 in long-term recovery beds for up to 18 months. County officials noted that re-purposing the former nursing home at 1411 Lees Chapel Road allowed the county to save taxpayer money while meeting a critical community need.
“The facility is laid out with programming and staff resources in the center of the building and residential wings on each side,” explained Abby Gosling, Guilford County’s Manager of Special Projects.
The center of the facility houses the main dining area and commercial kitchen, a nurses’ station, and a program intake suite. Each wing includes group rooms, staff offices, and double-occupancy bedrooms, along with an outdoor patio for dining and recreation.
Officials shared that the county has invested at least $10 million into the project and are right on budget. Construction is on deadline to be completed by December, with tentative plans for a January opening date.
Jean Tillman, senior program director for Daymark Recovery Services, which will operate the center, described a four-phase model of care designed to give residents the time and structure needed for true recovery.
“The first phase is crisis and stabilization,” Tillman said. “Then we move into advanced relapse prevention, where clients start to think about what they want their lives to look like going forward. The third phase focuses on community readiness—getting them prepared to work, go back to school, and re-enter society. The final phase is transitional living, lasting up to 18 months.”
Tillman said the program is designed to address both substance use and mental health needs while preparing clients for independent living.
“You’re right, 30 days is no time. They come in, they go out. But now they have an opportunity to truly make a difference in their lives and their families’ lives,” she said. “We know housing is a major issue, so it’s a long-term process. Everything is client-focused and based on their readiness.”
Daymark currently operates the Guilford Residential Treatment Facility, located at Gibson Park in High Point, but will relocate to the new Lees Chapel Road facility once it is complete. Tillman noted that approximately 36 clients from the current site will transition into the new center. The Gibson Park facility will then be repurposed as a homeless shelter for women with children.
Although the new center’s 54 beds represent progress, county officials emphasized that it is only the beginning.
“We’ve got 600 or so people still out there sleeping in the woods and under bridges,” said Alston. “This is just the beginning. We need at least 10 more of these facilities to really address the problem of homelessness in this community.”
