Love and Respect Community for Recovery and Wellness is a Hendersonville-based nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals rebuild their lives through recovery, peer support and community connection. Founded in 2017, the organization is a peer-run recovery community center focused on supporting people navigating substance use, mental health challenges and reentry after incarceration. Its mission is to “transform lives, restore families and help create a healthier community” by providing compassionate, culturally responsive support from those with lived experience.

At the heart of Love and Respect is the belief that recovery looks different for everyone. The organization works to reduce stigma around mental health and substance use while ensuring that individuals from diverse backgrounds feel seen, heard and supported. Programs emphasize empathy, listening and culturally competent care, recognizing that many people face systemic barriers to recovery such as limited healthcare access, housing instability or discrimination.

The nonprofit operates a free drop-in recovery center where people can access support services in a safe and welcoming environment. Participants can receive one-on-one peer support from certified specialists who have personal experience with recovery. This peer-driven model helps build trust and shows participants that meaningful change is possible. Services also include weekly support groups, basic needs (including food and hygiene), bilingual mobile outreach, resource navigation, access to treatment facilities, workforce readiness assistance, community training and reentry support for individuals leaving incarceration.

The organization’s strength lies in its team, many of whom have walked their own recovery journeys. Executive Director Lexie Wilkins founded Love and Respect after overcoming substance use challenges and incarceration. Now more than twenty-one years into recovery, he uses his experience to improve treatment and support systems for others facing similar struggles.

Director of Operations Alivea Turner brings both professional training and lived experience with mental health challenges and recovery. The staff also includes certified peer support specialists who draw on their own life experiences to guide and encourage others. Together they create an environment where participants are met with understanding rather than judgment.

Love and Respect is unique in that the majority of its staff members are certified peer support specialists, people who have personally experienced substance use or mental health challenges and are trained to help others on similar paths. This approach reinforces the organization’s philosophy that recovery is strongest when built on shared experience and genuine connection.

By offering free services funded through grants and donations, Love and Respect ensures that support is accessible to anyone who needs it. Through peer-led programs and compassionate outreach, the organization continues to build a stronger, healthier community where individuals in recovery can find hope, stability and a renewed sense of purpose.

The Love and Respect Community for Recovery and Wellness stands as a powerful example of how empathy can change lives, one person at a time. Go to loveandrespectcommunityforrecoveryandwellness.org to learn more, and consider donating.