President’s Message

At Cenikor, we know recovery is a journey, not a destination. For more than five decades, we’ve worked to meet our clients where they are, no matter the challenges. We walk with them for the rest of their lives, as a supporter and as a partner, to help them achieve their recovery goals and beyond. We are all still dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while our treatment centers remained open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 2023 marked a turning point in our ability to return to in-person prevention programs. Our team has been excited to be back out in the community, making connections with our partners in person again.

I recently learned that as many as 10% of drug treatment programs have gone out of business since the pandemic. Many more have been purchased or consolidated due to financial challenges. Our balanced approach has kept us both financially secure and able to expand and improve our quality of care this fiscal year. We added medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid recovery plus co-occurring disorder services for those with mental health issues. We also added services for veterans with PTSD.

On the client support front, we created new recovery support specialist roles. These are peers in recovery who interact with clients inside or outside our facilities to build and maintain connectivity and community. Experience has shown peer mentoring can help in achieving lasting sobriety if clients have a person to reach out to when they need support.

Fiscal Year 2023 wasn’t just about the expansion of services and financial health. I’m proud to say we worked actively with elected officials and government agencies to understand the implementation of new treatment-related regulations and laws, and how they affect people’s recovery journey and day-to-day lives.

It is important for us to continue to be actively connected with state, federal, county, and city officials so we can expand the work we do and open new treatment options for people with substance use disorders. I’d like to personally thank Congressman Al Green, Congressman Jeff Sessions, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, and Senator Ben Ray Lujan for working with us to improve federal funding and access to drug treatment programs.

The partnerships we developed this year helped us have the greatest impact on the greatest number of individuals within economic constraints. Our ability to develop new programs and deliver specialized services was made possible through grants and donated unrestricted funds. This gave us the ability to expand and enhance services in underserved communities, and we are grateful to our donors who help make this possible.

The largest investment we made this year was the acquisition of a new location in Dallas. This new facility will be a state-of-the-art treatment center designed with modern amenities and enhanced resources, and it takes Cenikor from a 32-bed facility to an 80-bed facility. We are excited to continue fulfilling our mission through this expansion and look forward to welcoming clients soon.

Finally, we are thrilled with the way our prevention program has grown this year. Our public schools program served more than 40,800 schoolchildren this year. Our Youth and Recovery programs continued their important work with over 12,000 teenagers and young adults, giving them a healthy environment in recovery and a place to go where they are accepted throughout their journeys.

At a time when the opioid crisis continues to rage and drug overdoses have been at an all-time high since 2021, I’m proud to say Cenikor is on a solid path to continue supporting clients in recovery. We expanded our number of available beds, engaged with community partners to improve access to care, and invested in improved data reporting and education programs to improve client outcomes and quality of care. I want to thank each of you personally for all you do to support Cenikor and our mission.

Thank you,

Bill Bailey
President and CEO
Cenikor Foundation