A Second Chance at Life

Thirteen years after No Longer Bound was started, Edward Bailey entered the program. He didn’t have a tragic childhood or other trauma that led to his addictions. Instead, he came from a two-parent, loving Christian home and was homeschooled.

“A restless, reckless and rebellious spirit led me to experiment with drugs and alcohol; before I knew it, I had a full-blown addiction to meth. Thankfully, my family found help for me at No Longer Bound, which I believe saved my life,” Edward said. “I entered the program on July 21, 2004 and found hope and healing, which ultimately transformed to a mission and career calling call to help save those impacted by addiction.”

Today, Edward is executive director of No Longer Bound, a faith-based, 12-month residential regeneration center for adult men with drug and alcohol addiction. With a mission to rescue addicts, regenerate men and reconcile families, No Longer Bound’s program is intensive and effective: approximately 70 percent of men will graduate the No Longer Bound regeneration program, free of their addiction and ready for a second chance at life. Since its founding in 1991, No Longer Bound has graduated approximately 1,200 men from the program.

“No Longer Bound is 73 percent self-sustaining through revenue earned through our four industries and intake fees – a true gold standard for any non-profit. Our remaining operational budget is covered through fundraising events (NLB Banquet in the fall and our golf tournament in the spring) and ongoing financial support from donors. This allows us to keep intake fees low for residents, ensuring that their treatment is affordable,” Edward said.

No Longer Bound is also in the middle of a capital campaign to raise money for a full renovation of their campus.

“We are nearing the $3.2 million goal and are still actively seeking donors to help get us over the finish line,” Edward said. “We will begin construction next year, and in so doing, will expand our capacity by 25 percent.”

A nonprofit fundholder at the Community Foundation, No Longer Bound believes it will take the whole community to address the addiction epidemic.

“We believe that the epidemic of addiction no longer solely affects a person, or even a family. Addiction tears at the threads and aims at the heart of our entire community,” Edward said. “I think the Community Foundation is a wonderful model and allows our community a platform to come together and link arms to protect what we care about most and invest in issues that eternally matter.”

Edward and his team have the unique perspective of not only being a fundholder at the Community Foundation but also a grant recipient. They’ve seen how the Community Foundation positively impacts the community.

“The nonprofit space is actually pretty cluttered, and some of that clutter consists of some bad options for philanthropic investment,” he said. “When an individual, family, or business comes to the place in their journey where they understand the value of social investment, they are then looking at the landscape of options to give to and they inevitably come to the place of scratching their head. They have money to give, a heart to do so, and they want to insure that they’re making a wise choice with their gifts. They want to know that their dollars are really being used to change lives. The Community Foundation does the invaluable work of vetting those organizations. They filter the noise and the clutter to move your dollars towards a valuable investment.”

Would you like to know more about becoming a nonprofit fundholder? Contact Randy Redner for more information at 770-813-3384 or rredner@cfneg.org.