Our executive director, Danielle Wallace, wrote a piece in the Addison Independant for the series Living Together: Unhoused in need of ‘safe places’
“My name is Danielle Wallace. I am the executive director of the Turning Point Center of Addison County. I teach the DUI course formerly known as CRASH. I have a bachelor’s degree in Mental Health and Human Services from the University of Maine at Augusta and a master’s degree in Restorative Justice from Vermont Law School.
I am also a person in recovery from substance use disorder. Addison County was not meant to be the place I would raise my daughter. When I came here to stay with my aunt in 2016, I never imagined I would find such a deep sense of community here, one that I thought was a thing of the past.
So, I understand that this sense of community might feel threatened to many of us because of recent stories in the news about people who are unhoused, whose aggressive behaviors seem to be the result of mental illness and addiction. And I share in these community concerns, not just as a responsible neighbor but because my own lived experience with addiction once had me living this reality.”
Read the full story below!
Addison Independant – Living Together: Unhoused in need of ‘safe places’