Community Health lands $5M gift to support housing for its Fairbanks Recovery Center

Julie Wood standing next to a portrait of the late Tom Wood.

Community Health Network has landed a $5 million gift, the largest in its history, to support  recovery housing for people with substance-use disorders at its Fairbanks Recovery Center.

The donation, which will be paid over five years, is a gift from local philanthropist Julie Wood, on behalf of the Tom & Julie Wood Family Foundation. Tom Wood was a prominent car dealer who died of lung cancer in 2010 at age 78.

Recovery housing offers a structured environment where individuals can develop and practice life skills while maintaining a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle, the health system said. The center’s supportive living apartments “provide a safe and sober environment as residents continue on the road of recovery.”

Services include furnished apartments, recovery programs, support meetings, an onsite residential manager and a food pantry.

“There are so many people that are affected by substance use disorder,” Julie Wood said in written remarks. “It’s heartbreaking. I have experienced the heartache of a loved one with addiction—it affects the whole family and the whole community around that person.”

In Marion County, substance abuse disorder is the second most diagnosed mental health disorder, with depression in the first spot and anxiety disorder in third, Community said.

The supply of recovery housing does not meet demand in Indiana, where the state ranks 37th in the nation in terms of recovery housing availability per capita.

At Fairbanks Recovery Center, residents are encouraged to stay at the recovery housing for at least nine weeks, but many choose to stay longer, the health system said. In 2023, more than 250 people used the recovery housing program, and the average length of stay was 67 days.

“An individual’s environment while receiving substance use disorder treatment can often determine the long-term success of their recovery,” Cathy Boggs, administrator and executive director of Community Fairbanks Recovery Center, said in written remarks. “For some of our clients, returning home after primary treatment for substance use disorder is not always the best option.”

The Tom & Julie Wood Family Foundation gave $1.2 million to Community Fairbanks Recovery Center between 2018 and 2023 to help more than 1,400 clients with rent assistance.

Fairbanks, founded in 1945, operates a treatment center near East 82nd Street and Shadeland Avenue that offers programs for people with substance abuse disorders, including  detox, education, supportive living, outpatient and residential treatment. It merged in 2019 with Community Health Network, an Indianapolis-based hospital system.