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The Next Door Chattanooga is very pleased to announce two new matching grant opportunities: $5,000 from The Robert L. and Kathrina H. Maclellan Foundation and $5,000 from The Osborne Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga.

Will you help us raise the $10,000 needed to achieve both matching grants by donating today and also by sharing this great opportunity with your friends, family and co-workers? You may give online or by check mailed to The Next Door, P. O. Box 23336, Nashville, TN 37202. Please help us by specifying that your gift is designated for TND Chattanooga.

TND Chattanooga opened in June 2010 to address a significant gap in services for women reentering society upon release from incarceration. In March 2011, TND Chattanooga had the unique opportunity to launch Tennessee’s first ever Correctional Release Center for women, a pilot project serving women prior to release from incarceration. The combined offering of both pre-release and post-release services is unlike any other location of The Next Door and offers significant opportunities to serve more women at their specific point of need with counseling, workforce development services, case management and recovery
support services.

The Next Door Chattanooga has been recognized by the White House Office of National Drug

Control Policy this week as one of ten Champion of Change organizations working to "reduce drug use and build a healthier America." The Champion of Change designation was given for The Next Door's commitment to reduce substance abuse and recidivism for women in the Chattanooga and East Tennessee area.

The Next Door Chattanooga is featured on the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov , including a video of TND's CEO, Linda Leathers, describing our work with women who are or have been incarcerated and also have a history of substance abuse. Linda participated in a day-long session in Washington on Friday, August 12, with the other leaders recognized as Champions of Change addressing issues of drug use facing our nation.

This tremendous honor of being a White House Champion of Change follows on The Next Door Chattanooga’s inclusion in this year’s National Drug Control Strategy, which highlighted TND as a model of reentry services for women in a supportive community.

A recent National Opinion Column by David Mineta, Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also cites The Next Door’s Residential Transition Center Program for helping reduce recidivism and drug use among women:

TND Highlighted in White House 2011 National Drug Control Policy

The Next Door is honored to be included in the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy released today by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In his preface, ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske, who has visited all 3 locations of The Next Door Residential Transition Program, describes the Strategy as "a balanced approach—one that draws upon prevention, treatment, recovery support, law enforcement, interdiction, and international partnerships.”

The Strategy features Resident Case Manager Ramie Siler and her powerful, encouraging testimony about her experiences, her restored relationship with her daughter, and her ongoing commitment to help other women live in recovery: Ramie's Story.

The Next Door is highlighted as a model of reentry services for women in a supportive community. Scroll to "Principle 4: Create Supportive Communities to Sustain Recovery for the Reentry Population" for the section about The Next Door: Drug Control Strategy - Reentry.

U.S. Attorney General and Drug Czar Attend TND Chattanooga Grand Opening

Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, and Gil Kerlikowske, Dire

ctor of the White House Office of National Control Policy participated in the May 25 Grand Opening of The Next Door's two programs in Chattanooga - the Residential Transition Center, which began serving women in June 2010 and the Chattanooga Release Center, which received its first participants in March 2011. View Photos.

"Today was a wonderful day of celebration for the women we serve and the women we will serve in the future," said The Next Door's CEO Linda Leathers. "It highlighted the importance of partnership between the public and private sectors of our communities. We can work together to offer women coming from incarceration an opportunity to experience transformation."

Two current residents of The Next Door Chattanooga shared their moving stories

and the challenges they face as they try to find employment, look for safe places to live after they leave TND, and prepare to reunite with their families. They spoke candidly about their fears, but their determination to live life differently than they have in the past was apparent to those gathered to celebrate the Grand Opening.

Commissioner Derrick Schofield of the Tennessee Department of Correction, Chairman Charles Traughber of the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, and Commissioner Doug Varney of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health spoke during the Grand Opening ceremony about the important work of addressing the needs of female offenders reentering the community.

The Grand Opening and The Next Door Chattanooga residents and staff are featured on the May 26 White House Blog!

Opening The Next Door

Trust, faith, and forgiveness. Recovering female addicts at a rehabilitation program in Nashville are not asked to earn the staff's trust; it is given freely despite the inevitable disappointments. Read more.

The Next Door is dedicated to helping women in crisis, equipping them to develop lives of wholeness and hope.

TND Chattanooga Awarded Two Matching Grants

TND Chattanooga is honored as White House "Champion of Change"

TND Highlighted in White House 2011 National Drug Control Policy

U.S. Attorney General and Drug Czar Attend TND Chattanooga Grand Opening

Opening The Next Door

Staff Openings

The Next Door provides HOPE and HEALING to women in crisis.