The following represents an architect’s rendering of the new Dove’s Nest facility.

We broke ground in late 2011 and expect to have the grand opening in in August 2012.  In the meantime please feel free to track our progress by selecting the image below:

Click here to download a pdf version of the flyer.

If you are interested, please call  Sheila MacDonald at 704.334.4635 ext 213 or email Sheila.macdonald@charlotterescuemission.org

The program provides a loving, highly-structured Christian environment to help women understand and deal with the core issues of their alcohol and/or drug addiction. The intense 120-day program focuses on spiritual, physical, social and psychological recovery. Within each of these areas, issues of shame, isolation, all types of abuse, codependency and lack of boundaries and structure are addressed. After the 120 day intensive program clients may opt for an eight month extension in our continuing care division.

Dove’s Nest offers more than a clean bed, clothing and nourishing food. Women learn how to live a life of sobriety and have a daily personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The program is women-specific, with a staff dealing with all women’s issues including mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Our clients come to Dove’s Nest to rest, mend, heal and gain a new direction in their lives.

Our dedicated staff is made up of certified substance abuse counselors, licensed clinical addiction specialists, ordained pastors with Associate’s, Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. Their goal is to teach the women coping skills and tools needed to live and maintain a life of sobriety. The program focuses on all aspects of addiction including shame, isolation, abuse, codependency and lack of boundaries and structure.

Facts necessary for prospective clients and referral sources about the CRM Dove’s Nest Program. The women’s specific recovery program is a four to twelve month program that follows a diagnostic period that last approximately two-weeks.

Client Eligibility:

Prospective clients must call the Admission’s Coordinator personally & follow directions given. We currently work from a waiting list. 704-332-3999 ext. 13 (Leave your name and a number where you can be reached within 24 to 48-hours.)

A client must:

Following a two-week diagnostic period a client may be admitted into:

Phase One – 120-day structured program, clients will experience weekly individual counseling, group therapy, education classes and various activities, living skills training, biblical application for emotional wounds and sober support group development
Phase Two – our Continuing Care Division (CCD) is approximately 240-days in length and designed for women that:

• do not have supportive and safe environments to return to
• have chronic relapse traits
• have previously completed this program and are eligible for readmission

CLIENT POLICY STATEMENT – It is the policy of Charlotte Rescue Mission not to discriminate against any client or potential client. We do require all clients to be age 18 or older. Clients must also be able to maneuver throughout the facility. It is our policy to ensure and maintain an environment free of coercion, harassment and intimidation. We will take immediate action to ensure that this policy is implemented.

A Life Transformed

Dove’s Nest Shows God’s love, Provides Healing

The best gift I ever got was the gift of desperation. That gift came as the result of 27 years of drinking and drugging. During that time I was dishonest and manipulative. I stole things and I prostituted myself. I would go days at a time without eating, sleeping or bathing. At one time or another, I landed in jail, behavioral health centers and battered women’s shelters. I was unemployed and homeless. Drugs and alcohol were slowly killing me.

It was that desperation that made me realize I was spiritually, physically and financially broken and that I was finally ready for help. it was late October 2007 when I called Dove’s Nest. At that time, there was no room for me and I was placed on a waiting list, but I didn’t lose hope. Then after Thanksgiving I got the call offering me a place at Dove’s Nest. I was blown away when they told me that I would receive food, shelter, medical care and treatment for my addiction. I knew that this was the place I would finally get the help that I needed.

I brought a lot of baggage, in the form of shame and distrust, with me to Dove’s Nest. Over the next 120 days, I learned so much about the disease of addiction. The Lord Heal My Hurts course changed my life. In it I learned that God truly loved me and I slowly let go of my fears and resentments resulting from childhood sexual abuse. In my co-dependency classes I learned how to set healthy boundaries for myself and my life. During my Week of Silence, I grew spiritually and finally came to realize the power of drugs and alcohol had over my life. It was during this part of my stay that I fully understood that I had to submit to God’s will, not my own.

I take one day at a time now. I know that I am always one drink away from drunk and one hit away from high, so I work hard at my sobriety because I never want to go back to the way life was. But today I celebrate three years of sobriety. I have my own apartment and a full-time job. And service work has become a big part of my life now, because I want to help others just like I was helped.

Currently, Dove’s Nest has a 90-day waiting list, and the list would be much longer except for the fact that many detox centers avoid referring clients because they know that the wait would be too long.

Recognizing the need for additional space, the Charlotte Rescue Mission is engaging in its first Capital Campaign to build a new facility to support more women in crisis. The Charlotte Rescue Mission (CRM) has purchased 11 acres on West Boulevard for construction of a new Dove’s Nest building which will increase treatment bed capacity from 12 to 120. This comprehensive new facility will feature the region’s first three-phased treatment approach providing:

• 90 Primary Care beds ( currently: 12 )
• 30 Children’s beds ( currently: 0 )

Another major improvement will be the addition of the capacity for women with children. We will have bunk beds and four people per room. A woman and up to three children will be able to stay in a single room.

The Capital Campaign kicked off in 2008 and we broke ground in Fall 2010. Our financial goal is to raise $11.2 million, which will provide the building plus three years of operating costs.

Finally, the Charlotte Rescue Mission is collaborating with United Family Services (UFS) on our 11 acre West Boulevard site. CRM will sell 5 acres for UFS to build an expanded Domestic Violence facility for women. It is likely that this West Boulevard campus will house two agencies dealing with two of the main issues facing homeless or at risk women: addiction and domestic violence.

1. Attend a Dove’s Nest Lunch and Learn. Each Thursday Lunch and Learns are held from 12:00 – 1:15 at the current Dove’s Nest location. These Lunch and Learns provide details about the program and allow you to see “First-Hand” the miracles that are occurring at the center. To sign up for a Lunch and Learn please contact Hilary Howerton – sheila.mcdonald@charlotterescuemission.org – 704.334.4635 ext 213
2. Make a Pledge. Download the following Pledge Form and email the form to eju@charlotterescuemission.org, fax the form to 704-333-7285, or mail the form to the address below.Charlotte Rescue Mission
   Attn:  EJ Underwood
   PO Box 33000
   Charlotte, NC 28233
3. Donate Online. If you feel led to donate right now; you can do so online. Please make sure you select the Gift Type option – Dove’s Nest Capital Campaign. Charlotte Rescue Mission, is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
4. Sponsor a bedroom.  We are inviting groups (office groups, church groups, civic groups, etc.) to be part of the solution for women that struggle with homelessness and substance abuse.  As a group project, we are asking groups to help raise $2500 to provide the furnishings for one client in the new Dove’s Nest facility.  Each group will be recognized on a plaque in the lobby and will be invited to the dedication which is tentatively scheduled for August 2012.  All funds need to be received no later than June 2012.  If you or your group would like to take part in our Bed Sponsorship program, please call Sheila MacDonald at 704-334-4635 ext 213 or email at sheila.macdonald@charlotterescuemission.org

I entered the doors of “The Nest” on November 9, 2007; I was completely dead inside, and there I found not only a warm meal and a roof over my head but a sense of safety that I hadn’t known in a long time. There were wonderful counselors there that gave me hope and showed me how to live a new way of life, clean and sober.  I found the Tara that God had intended me to be all along.

I have since gotten my children back and am a great mother. I have an awesome family that I am engaged in. I am going back to school and making good grades to work with other alcholics and addicts. I attend AA meetings several times weekly and am very active in my sobriety. I NEVER could have imagined that my life would be the way it is today; I NEVER thought I could get sober and remain sober.

I am SO truely grateful to Dove’s Nest and ALL of its staff; that was a crucial part of the beginning of my new life. Thank you Dove’s Nest; you will ALWAYS be in my thoughts and prayers…I love you for all you have done for me and all the women’s lives you have changed!!!