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TROSA was founded in 1994 with Kevin McDonald at the helm and just $18,000 in the bank. Durham County Commissioners showed their support by voting unanimously to lease the Old North Durham Elementary School to TROSA for $1 per year and the Durham Chamber of Commerce provided a grant to help start our program. In order to provide vocational training and generate additional revenue, Kevin began a potato peeling social enterprise and later a moving service.
TROSA's full name is "Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, Inc.", though we have grown to serve and benefit individuals far beyond the Triangle, North Carolina region.
During the next two decades, TROSA grew by every measure, including the growth in residents served, facilities, programs, staff, and social enterprises. The facilities expanded to include dedicated spaces for commercial operations and, with the purchase of a 13-acre site (formerly the Lakewood Dairy, and now our central campus), spaces for administrative, medical, and intake offices.
We also received recognition and accolades for our work as we continued to grow. We received our state license as a therapeutic community. And we began collaborating with Duke University Medical Center to accept residents with co-occurring mental illness diagnoses.
As TROSA grew, we were able to add more specialized programs such as therapies for women and individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as continuing care services for graduates including relapse prevention groups; transportation to/from work or school; and safe, stable housing.
In 2010, we completed construction of the William Mack, Sr. Center (named in honor of the TROSA graduate and staff member who started TROSA’s brick crew in our construction department). This 12,500 sq. ft. facility provides additional classroom and recreation space, exercise equipment and room for all residents to gather for community events like quarterly graduations and holiday parties.
In 2012, we completed construction of two 75-person dormitories on our main Durham campus, providing both logistical and therapeutic benefits. TROSA serves a daily average of more than 400 men and women. Our T-West location houses residents at many program stages, including senior residents who are graduates that serve as on-campus mentors and leaders.
In addition to growing our campus, TROSA has gained recognition for our award-winning social enterprises. TROSA Thrift and Frame Store, opened in 2013, quickly become a great success and customer favorite. TROSA Thrift and Frame Store expanded at our current location in late 2014, with over 100,000 square feet of gently-used furniture, clothing, housewares, electronics, and more. TROSA Thrift and Frame consistently wins community awards for being the best in the region.
On November 1, 2017 TROSA celebrated the opening of our TROSA Comprehensive Care Center, which provides a centralized space for our intake, medical, and counseling departments on our main campus. To read more about this important project for TROSA, click here. You can view a video tour of the Care Center here.
Our TROSA East Campus (T-East) in Durham will provide over 55,000 square feet of new space for housing, classes, recreation, and meetings for our Women’s Program and for our TROSA Graduates. In December 2020, we completed the first phase of this multi-year campus expansion project.
Having a centralized campus has helped TROSA become a nationally-recognized long-term recovery program. Throughout North Carolina and across the nation there is an increasing need for effective, affordable treatment for substance use disorders. TROSA is currently planning for scaling its success with a satellite campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. You can read more about plans for our campus on our TROSA Triad page.