Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness is a Recovery Community Organization (RCO), and is the first peer-staffed and managed organization in Western North Carolina, meaning all staff are persons certified by the state to utilize their lived experience with mental health and substance use disorders, houselessness or incarceration to help others with their life journey.  

Sunrise Community helps fill gaps in systems of care for some of our most vulnerable populations- the houseless, the recently incarcerated, individuals experiencing substance use and mental wellness challenges and more. We offer support, dignity and a “we’ll meet you where you are” attitude that provides opportunities for individuals to discover their own recovery journey through peer support, harm reduction, resource connection. education and training opportunities, and a pathway to gainful employment as a Peer Support Specialist.

Our unique value-add is our staff of Certified Peer Support Specialists, who are the hands and heart of our organization and provide a unique evidence-based connection that helps remove stigma, reduce loneliness and lower rates of incarceration, hospitalization and recidivism.

Our Purpose: Sunrise Community for Recovery & Wellness provides a variety of programs and services for individuals affected by substance use and mental health challenges. We also seek to serve as a community umbrella to all local organizations with similar missions.

The Blair H. Clark Respite House, operated by Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, is the first of its kind in North Carolina and the 17th in the United States. 

Named after one of Sunrise’s founding members, it is considered an alternative to an inpatient psychiatric hospital stay for individuals in recovery experiencing emotional distress or in need of a break from current circumstances. Evidence-based research shows that Peer Operated Respite Services reduce the need for inpatient treatment or emergency room visits due to emotional distress in recovery by 70%.