Contrast Creative just completed the production of a video called TROSA: Our Story. For those of us living in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina, the name TROSA is not uncommonly heard. Many of us are aware of TROSA businesses. In addition to the moving and storage company, there is a lawn care business and frame and furniture shop. You may celebrate the holidays with a tree from a TROSA Christmas tree lot or perhaps bought items at TROSA’s quarterly fundraising sale stocked with tractor-trailer loads of clothing, furniture and an array of must have knick-knacks.
But what is TROSA? Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers. TROSA is a comprehensive two-year residential substance abuse recovery program in Durham, North Carolina. Yes. I said a two-year program–not the standard 30 day recovery program that many of us are familiar with. Better yet, the TROSA program is FREE to substance abusers with just one condition–they must have a strong desire to change their lives. Founded in 1994 by Kevin McDonald, (no formal relation to me, but forever connected to him now by our shared McDonald heritage of achieving dreams with grit and determination) TROSA offers as many as 350 residents at a given time vocational training, education, counseling, mentoring, leadership training, and aftercare.
TROSA residents raise more than half of the organization’s annual operating budget through their hard work and dedication, while the other portion must come from donations from people like you and me. Who are we? We’re people smart enough to understand that a substance abuser is not a pariah, but rather a son or daughter, a parent, a sibling, a spouse or a friend. We’re people who believe that change is possible and the human spirit can (with support) overcome heartache, hardship, abuse and addiction.
I interviewed Paul Nagy, a Clinical Associate in the Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for the TROSA video. He noted that nearly 20% of the general population will have a substance abuse disorder. “The reality is that people enter life with different degrees of vulnerability to different things,” explained Nagy. “Some of us enter life with vulnerability of heart disease, to certain kinds of cancers and to diabetes. And just the same way, people enter life with different degrees of vulnerability to addiction.”
I entered life with a vulnerability to addiction. Like Kevin, my family history of substance abuse extends back generations. But more than this Kevin and I share a mutual belief that he expressed so eloquently in the video. Kevin said, “I learned that if you believe enough and you’re passionate enough and you care enough about people that you can help change people and create something that really is meaningful in life.” To date, TROSA has impacted the lives of thousands of men and women, their families and, ultimately, the community in which each of them live and work. This organization is a rare treasure with a proven track record of helping individuals transform their lives for the better.
It was an honor to be trusted by Kevin and the TROSA staff as well as its “heroic” residents to share their story with the community. The Contrast Creative team, who dedicated themselves to this project, hope the video makes a meaningful difference in the lives of everyone who watches it.
If you’re seeking a program to support, please consider making a donation to TROSA or use a TROSA business. Learn more about this incredible organization by visiting www.trosainc.org or call 919.419.1059