DLC’s Crossroads Continuum Offers Hope

by Maggie Baldwin, Crossroads Continuum Services Director
David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health (DLC)

Substance use disorders have the potential to derail lives, impacting a person’s ability to lead a healthy and productive life, have meaningful relationships and fulfill their full potential.

In 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported that approximately 30.5 million adults nationwide reported having a substance use problem. The same report found that approximately 13 million people over the age of12 received treatment in 2023.

At David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health (DLC), we have experienced a significant increase in the number of individuals seeking treatment or support services for substance use disorders. Last year alone, we served more than 700 individuals through our Crossroads and detox programs, our inpatient residential program, and more than 675 individuals through our crisis stabilization unit, a 28 bed, non-hospital, inpatient mental health unit that provides evaluation and treatment for individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis.

Cindy, a Naples resident and a DLC client, found herself at DLC after her life took an unexpected turn. While her path was primed for personal and professional prosperity, Cindy developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol, causing her to lose her family, career and home. She was at her lowest point when someone referred her to DLC, where she found the support she desperately needed.

“I didn’t know what to do with my life. I didn’t know how to get better. I was hopeless and depressed,” she said. “I didn’t feel like there was any light at the end of the tunnel, and then someone connected me with David Lawrence Centers.”

Cindy entered Crossroads, DLC’s 18 bed inpatient residential program, which provides essential education to community members in need. This innovative course of treatment gives participants the tools and resources needed to develop and maintain their recovery, including how to identify relapse triggers, build meaningful relationships and adopt strategies to live a balanced life.

Individuals also participate in group therapy and attend daily 12 step meetings with members of the local recovery community, including members of the DLC Alumni Association.

As part of the Crossroads program, Cindy was able to overcome her addiction. Once she finished inpatient treatment, DLC connected her with aftercare support and sober living opportunities. She continued to participate in a 12-step program, receiving a sponsor and working to rebuild her life.

Today, Cindy is a healthy and productive community member. She has successfully rebuilt relationships with her mother and son, maintains a job and apartment, and supports others through their recovery.

“I’m very grateful and I have a lot of hope in my life,” said Cindy. “ very different than where I was at. I have a lot of people that care about me. I can pick up the phone any time, call anybody in the program, and they would be more than happy to talk to me about what’s going on in my life.”

Understanding the increased need to serve more community members, we have committed to expanding our vital substance use programs. Our Hope for Collier: Building Stronger Minds Together initiative will allow DLC to expand and enhance the thriving Crossroads residential substance use and treatment facility and detoxification unit.

This historic commitment will ensure more people in need, like Cindy, have access to our lifesaving and life changing programs.

“Hope to me means that I am free of any obsessive thoughts and an emotional state that I can’t get past or through,” she said. “Hope is communication with the Divine for me, and that they are always going to tell me it’s going to be OK. Hope is priceless.”

For more information about David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health or our substance use programs, visit DLCenters.org.