MARIANNA, Fla. (WMBB) —Jackson County has become the latest county in our area to offer substance abuse treatment for jail inmates.
The CHROME Ministry Program offers help with other issues like mental illness, homelessness, depression, and abuse.
CHROME is the first faith-based program of its kind in Marianna.
It stands for Christ Helping Rescue Oppressed Men Everyday.
The rehab center is set up in the old Marianna Middle School campus to help men who are homeless, struggling with addiction, or just need a fresh start.
“It’s an opportunity for men to walk from rescue, which is rescued from whatever life’s means on the end of addiction, pain of loss of family members. There are more choices. Mental illness, walking men through the recovery process. And helping them to reengage, to be the men that god created them to be, “said CHROME CEO David Bottner.
The nine-month program is set up to get men back on their feet.
“Our community has needed something like this for a long time. CHROME has been a godsend,” said Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Colbreath.
There are currently 31 men staying at the rehab facility.
“I’ve made a lot of referrals. Some of it has been through the court system and some has been from the streets. So, some have not quite made it through the court system yet,” said Colbreath.
Bottner started CHROME in New Orleans. After success there, he got the chance to expand to Florida.
CHROME supplies these men with the necessities while they’re enrolled.
“The men, they come in and they are in faith-based classes in the morning that worked on both faith basis and recovery. And in the afternoons, we do different chores around campus, so we get chapel services in the evening. The goal is to allow these men to become the men that God created them to be,” said CHROME Assistant Director Christopher Langland.
Bottner plans to renovate more of the old school campus to eventually accommodate 250 men.
To donate, text CHROME to 4-4-3-2-1, and to learn more about the rehabilitation program, click here.