EP #154 Inside Zoe Freedom Center And The Services That Save Lives

A big purple van drives through Fredericksburg carrying Narcan, and behind it is a simple idea that can save lives: remove barriers, show up fast, and treat people with real worth. We’re joined by Dana Brown, co-founder and executive director of Zoe Freedom Center, a local nonprofit providing free addiction services, trauma-informed support, and practical help for neighbors who are ready for a next step.

Dana breaks down what Zoe actually offers, from certified substance abuse counseling and peer support to therapeutic groups and a mobile harm reduction unit focused on overdose reversal for opioids like fentanyl and heroin. We also talk through what it looks like when someone walks in for help: meeting immediate needs like detox placement, then building a personalized plan that goes deeper than “white-knuckling” sobriety.

Dana shares her own recovery story, including years of homelessness and addiction, and how that journey shaped Zoe’s four pillars: renewing minds in Christ, building healthy relationships, developing dreams, and serving others. We also dig into Zoe’s women’s home and why long-term restorative care, up to two years, can be the difference between short-term stability and lasting freedom. If you care about addiction recovery in Fredericksburg VA, harm reduction, Narcan access, and faith-based community support, this conversation will stick with you.

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Dana Brown

Zoe Freedom Center

zoefreedomcenter.org

linktr.ee/zoefreedomcenter

info@zoefreedomcenter.org

+1 540-388-2748

Book: a.co/d/0amITDy7

4107 Lafayette Blvd. Ste. 4, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 0:12

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Dana Brown joining us. She is the co-founder and executive director of Zoe Freedom Center. Dana, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 0:32

Thank you, Dori. Thanks for having me.

What Zoe Freedom Center Does

Speaker 0:34

I'm excited about this and excited to dive in and learn more about you and about Zoe Freedom Center. So let's start there. Share with us. What is Zoe Freedom Center?

Speaker 2 0:45

So Zoe Freedom Center is a local nonprofit, and we provide free addiction services for people experiencing addiction in our community. We are also trauma-informed, and so we provide care for those who are addicted and may or may have been trafficked.

Speaker 1:02

Such an important cause, and uh I love what you're doing. So can you kind of walk us through the various services that you offer?

Speaker 2 1:14

Sure. So um so we provide certified substance abuse counseling. All of our services are free, by the way. We don't charge anybody anything. Um certified substance abuse counseling, we have peer support, we have therapeutic groups. We also have a mobile harm reduction unit that goes into the community. It's a big purple van. You may see it driving around Fredericksburg occasionally, and we provide Narcan, which is an overdose reversal medication for individuals who may have overdosed on an opiate, such as fentanyl or heroin or oxies, uh, anything like that. So it will reverse an overdose if you get to it quick enough. Um, and then we've just recently opened our women's home. Actually, it's been about eight months now, um, our women's home, where we provide long-term restorative care to women who are coming out of addiction. Um, it is long-term because we know that it didn't take overnight for someone to become addicted and to kind of lose their their life. Um, and it's it's not an overnight thing for them to get their skills back, get back on their feet, get their legs under them. So it's up to two years, our program. And um, yeah, so that's what we do right now.

Dana Brown’s Recovery Story

Speaker 2:31

Amazing. Well, congratulations on your success and what you're doing is such an important part of our community. And I know that that took a ton of work to get to where you are. So let's uh share a little bit about your journey. I want to learn more about you and how did Zoe Freedom Center come about?

Speaker 2 2:54

So I personally have 24 years free from addiction. And so uh I was homeless in New York City and um addicted to heroin and cocaine, uh, did all the things that you do when you're trying to get money for for your drugs, and um I had a radical encounter with the Lord, and I was delivered overnight. I was uh homeless about nine years, and I came home to North Carolina to uh to my parents' house, and um, I went to church and was able to be delivered from that addiction. And from that moment, God called me to share my story, to share his story in my life and how um how he can how he can change your life. And so from there I started sharing my story at conferences and churches. And um, and then he called my husband and I to start Zoe Freedom Center about seven years ago. And and that was a big leap of faith. Uh we're I was 50 years old, which is you know not a spring chicken. But he's been very faithful. It has been a lot of hard work, but it's also just been a lot of obedience and just following him and doing the next right thing, making the next right decision, um, picking myself up after the wrong decisions. And um, and he's just been using uh what he's done in my life to help other people find freedom from addiction.

A Personalized Path To Freedom

Speaker 4:19

Amazing. Amazing. Well, I just love what you're doing, and I know that so many people are benefiting from what you have created. So tell me a little bit about if someone is comes through your program, what does something like that look for them? Like, what is the journey of someone coming through look like?

Speaker 2 4:42

One of the sweet things about Zoe Freedom Center is that we're very individualized. Every person is unique, and God has called every person to a specific and unique uh goal or life journey. And so basically they'll come in and sit with a certified peer recovery specialist, either myself, uh, we have two others that that are in our office, and we just kind of start with what is it that God's calling you to do? Like, uh, do you understand that you can be free from addiction? That this can be a non-issue in your life, and um, and helping them kind of renew their minds. So we have four pillars: renewing minds in Christ, building healthy relationships, developing dreams, and serving others. And so that journey can go in many directions, um, all under the same pillar. So helping them understand they don't have to live with this for the rest of their lives. They can come out of this and become everything they were created to be. Um, they can have healthy relationships and they can be a healthy friend, they can be a good friend and they deserve good friends. Um, they can dream beyond just kind of white knuckling your way through life. You can dream beyond that. Um, there's there's um justice issues, there are criminal issues that are that usually are following the people that we serve. And what we've come to find out is that a lot of times we believe that those things are gonna stop us from anything significant, right? That um that we're just gonna have to get a job and and just barely squeak by for the rest of our lives, but that's just not true. Um, there we can still dream. And so we want to help people dream, help them develop those dreams. And one of the ways that we keep the freedom that we gain is by serving others. And so that looks different for many people. For me, it was starting an organization, and at first it was it was sharing my story just with people that would come into the office that I was working in, you know. And so we want to just help people take that journey. So they would start with a CPRS and find out like, what is your next step? What do you what do you need to do? At that point, we're meeting practical needs. So it may be that they need to go to a detox and we'll get them into a detox. We've got great success, usually within a day or two. Um, after that, it may be going to a 30-day or a long-term program, and we'll walk that journey with them. Um, so if you're looking at a lady who might be in our program, at that point we start talking about okay, what is it that you want to do with your life? What's something that you love, that you've always loved? What are you good at? What's your gifting? Um, and then we start developing that with them, uh, starting school or um beginning to build a resume. And so it's really just kind of different for each person that comes through. There's not a one size fits all. Uh, we have to have some parameters, uh, you know, just so that you know we can manage it. Yeah. Um, but everybody's an individual and we want to look at everyone that way. Um, and look at everyone with uh value. And so that person has value. The person that's sitting in front of us every day has value, and we want to help them understand that and then walk that out.

The Book And Addiction Myths

Speaker 8:02

Amazing, amazing. I'm really glad that you explained all of that so people have a good idea of what to expect, and uh it's not as scary as it probably seems, yeah. Yeah. So I understand that you've written a book. Tell us all about it.

Speaker 2 8:21

I have. Um, my book is called Desperate for a Fix How One Good Decision Can Change Your Life. And it's about the decision that I made to follow the Lord, and um, and it's really God's story in my life, and it starts out with a lot of um traumas. And so, you know, we have an idea that people just, you know, fall into addiction or decide to become addicted. And really, there are several different ways that people wind up in in addiction. Personally, mine were through several traumas, sexual trauma, um, bullying in school, lots of um, lots of things like that that kind of led me to being someone that would experiment with a drug. And some people can experiment with the drug and then never do it again. But what I found was that it it numbed my pain, my emotional pain. And so that is where my story with addiction really started. Um, you know, some people may have an auto accident, maybe have some of the same traumas, have an auto accident, and are given prescription medications. And a lot of people can just take the medication as prescribed and then stop. But then some people realize, hey, that's numbing some serious pain that I've had, and they continue on. But my story is it just walks through the the reasons that I used, some of the trauma that I experienced, um, and then how God led me out of that and into redemption. Um I had um three abortions while I was in my um addiction career. And later on in life, after getting married, my husband and I adopted three children, and it's and it's not a replacement, it's literally a redemption where God just said, you know, I know that you've always wanted to be a mom. And so it talks about my children a little, and I've left that wide open for them to write their own books, which I hope that they will. Um, they were three, five, and fourteen when we adopted them. Now they are 17, 19, and 28. And um, and they are doing fabulous. Um, it talks about starting Zoe. It talks about my relationship with my family. I grew up in an upper middle class family. Um, we have ideas about what people, where they come from when they get into addiction, and it's a it's kind of a debunker of myths.

How To Volunteer And Give

Speaker 10:52

I love that. Well, I imagine so many people are gonna get so much from you writing that book. So thank you for for that. I am excited to read it and can't wait to celebrate you when that comes out. Thank you. Um yeah. So if if listeners want to get involved, how can they give back to Zoe Freedom Center?

Speaker 2 11:18

So there's three ideal ways. Um, prayer is always first and foremost on our list. We really would uh we covet the prayers of our community, um, time. We have many, many volunteer opportunities, um, and we have such an amazing volunteer force. It's been something that's been strong since we started Zoe, and we're grateful for it. We don't take it for granted. It is something that keeps us afloat. And so you can go to our website at Zoe Freedomcenter.org. It's zoefreedomcenter.org, and go to the um get involved tab, and you can see all the different ways you can volunteer. And then, of course, giving. We are a nonprofit. I mentioned earlier that we don't charge anything for our services, and so you know, a monthly donor that gives $25 a month or $100 a month, it means the world, and it really literally means uh freedom for individuals in our community, and so giving is the other way prayer, time, and giving.

Speaker 12:22

Amazing, amazing. Well, thank you for what you have created. I know that it has already helped so many, and I have a feeling you're just getting started. And so thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Zoe Freedom Center with us.

Speaker 2 12:39

Thank you so much for having me. I have really, uh really enjoyed this time. Thank you.

Speaker 1 12:46

Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighbors Podcast.com.