ROCKINGHAM — Samaritan Colony is getting some financial help from a local municipality for its current project.
The Rockingham City Council on Tuesday approved a contribution of $15,000 to Samaritan Colony to aid in the construction of the SECU Women’s Recovery Center.
The measure wasn’t on the agenda, but was proposed by Councilman Gene Willard during his comments at the end of the meeting.
Willard said he had spoken several months back with Harold Pearson, executive director of Samaritan Colony, about the future center — a 13,000-square-foot, 14-bed facility to help women struggling with substance use disorders and histories of trauma.
Samaritan Colony expects to serve 136 women per year through its 28-day treatment program.
“He asked about the city of Rockingham maybe donating some funds for the project,” Willard said, “and after our conversation, I said I would have to discuss this with the council.”
Willard said he had spoken with City Manager Monty Crump prior to bringing it up in the meeting and received no objection.
Crump and Willard both noted that the contribution would be coming from the city’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funding, not the city’s regular budget.
“Samaritan Colony has done a lot of good work for several decades now in Richmond County and it’s a major expansion,” said Mayor John Hutchinson.
Samaritan Colony has been helping men cope with addiction for more than 40 years and Pearson said during the groundbreaking in January that there was a need for a women’s center — but there was no space.
In 2009, Samaritan Colony purchased more than 17 acres, expanding its campus to 25 acres.
Plans for the new facility were announced in early 2018.
Construction is expected to cost $3.4 million.
The State Employees Credit Union Foundation provided about a third of the funding, awarding Samaritan Colony a $40,000 Capacity Building grant in October of 2019 and a $1 million grant in September 2020.
This summer, the Leon Levine Foundation awarded a $150,000 charitable gift to Samaritan Colony in July.
Quality Oil and Gas also helped secure a $5,000 grant from Motiva in February of 2019.
Other financial supporters included Sandhills Center LME/MCO, The Cannon Foundation, The Richmond County Community Foundation, The Cole Foundation, The James R. & Bronnie L. Braswell Trust, The Baxter Foundation, the state of North Carolina, Griffin Automotive Group and other private donors.
