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Concern of Durham, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, community based organization, which was established and incorporated in 1975 with seed money from the United Church of Christ in Durham and help from concerned local professionals who saw the need for group home services for troubled teens. The founding board members were Tom Lane who was the head of the local mental health center, Dr. Dan Blazer a psychiatrist at Duke Hospital, Dr. Robert Cox a surgeon at Duke Hospital, Lemay Ginsberg, MSW, child psychologist, Sally Henderson, Mike Bigsby, and David Ziff. Today, Concern of Durham, Inc.’s operations are overseen by a board of individuals (professionals and/or consumers) who reside primarily in Durham and Orange counties and who represent a variety of disciplines ranging from social work to banking. The organization is run by a small yet experienced team of professionals.
The mission of Concern of Durham, Inc. is to develop, promote, and maintain positive life skills that enhance the emotional, social and intellectual functioning of behaviorally and emotionally troubled teens. COD's vision is to reduce or prevent inappropriate institutionalization of adolescent children by providing a less restrictive alternative in the community. COD seeks to provide a safe and stable environment that will teach responsible, appropriate, and socially acceptable problem solving, communication, decision making and coping skills. Furthermore, COD assists parents/significant others in making the necessary adjustments in the home environment that can help to maintain the skills that have been learned while residing in the residential or foster home placement.
The residential program, Greenhouse for Girls and Greenhouse for Boys opened its doors in 1979 and 1990 respectively to provide Residential Level III treatment. In March 2005, Concern of Durham was awarded a $20,0000 grant from the Orange-Person-Chatham (OPC) Mental Health Center in collaboration with the local System of Care committee, to begin a “transitional programming for adolescents” for their three county area. Since 1990, Concern of Durham, Inc. has moved to a staff and systems of care model and added exciting services such as weekly group and family therapy sessions provided by Concern of Durham, Inc. clinicians, individual and group living skills programming.
Over the past 33 years Concern of Durham, Inc. has expanded and improved its ability to provide a continuum of therapeutic adolescent-based programs and family services that range from intensive residential treatment for youth with significant behavioral and emotional problems to outreach/supportive services for at-risk youth. Throughout the years, the staff of Concern of Durham, Inc. has offered the following services to the organization: group and family therapy, individual and group living skills programming, in-house tutoring, mentoring services, summer programming, community respite care, and therapeutic foster care services. Currently, COD continues to offer its services to the community in the areas of residential services for female adolescents, therapeutic foster care services, and transitional living programming.