VALDOSTA — The Volunteers of America Pines Family Campus and the Humana Foundation came together Wednesday to throw an open house to celebrate the progress made on the Pines Family Campus. The open house allowed residents of the campus to see the work being done on the main building, which includes a renovated kitchen and a medical bay. Along with being able to tour the upgraded facilities, residents were treated a “Nurture and Nourish Day” that allowed them to sign up for yoga classes, massages, haircuts, and a nutrition class.

“Today is capturing a relationship between VOA, Georgia and Humana,” said Rob Rogers, CEO and president of VOA Southeast. “Humana is putting money into the idea of reaching into these rural, more impoverished communities where there are not resources like Pine’s Family Campus and empower[ing] them to do more to serve more women.”

Completed originally in 2006, the Pines Family Campus is a 28-bed facility that is designed to help women with substance use disorders who also have children. The year-long program they offer assists mothers with learning coping skills and how to abstain from using all drugs as well as alcohol. Women in the program are given their own units to stay in with their children, and in the case where their children have been separated from them, the VOA works directly with the Division of Family and Children Services to try to return their children to the mother’s care.

The program has three phases: phase one, where mothers have coursework, working directly with a counselor to understand their substance use disorder, as well as how to stay sober and clean one day at a time. Phase two allows mothers to have 19 hours a week where they can go off campus and have jobs in the community as well as continue work with a counselor. Phase three is when they are able to have full-time jobs, along with learning how to cope and manage their substance abuse once they are back with family and friends.

“There’s a great need for our services,” said Audrey Campbell, VOA Southeast’s director of integrated behavioral health. “Our services are free, and that’s important because many of the people that we service don’t have the means to get the help that they need.”

For more information about the Pines Family Campus, please call (229) 245-8045.