Club Soda just hanging on
No one takes a job in the rehab world to get rich, but Club Soda's financial straits have recently brought it perilously close to having to shut its doors and cease serving their clients.
"A lot of them have nowhere to go," said Club Soda Director Kevin Ball. "They'll go back to the streets — I don't want to see that. I don't want to see them go back to addiction."
The recovery center has been operating out of a building in 12 Points that was formerly Sacred Hearts School for the past nine years. It can handle 65 men and 35 women at any one time. It currently has 53 clients.
"Numbers are down," Ball acknowledged. "The place was designed to run at a full house with people who are paying. In a perfect world, those 53 people paying would pay the bills. But not everybody's able to pay."
When they can, clients pay $150 a week for room and board, about $21 a day.
"You can't eat for $21 a day," Ball said. Food costs the facility $1,500 a week. Club Soda also offers amenities such as a washer and dryer and transportation services so clients can get to work, appointments and the doctor. Fuel bills typically cost between $140-$200 a day.
Ball said that when he was an alcoholic going through rehab, "Two of the biggest obstacles were transportation and employment. We provide both of them so they can focus on recovery."
Club Soda owes tens of thousands of dollars. Among the debts are old utility bills, $7,000 for a fire inspection and $26,000 for a certified lead contractor to encapsulate the lead in the building's bricks.
As a nonprofit, its finances are viewable by the public, Ball said. He produced bills showing $20,000 was due in rent this week, but all he could only eke out was money for payroll and $1,000 in debt to The Hometown Savings Bank.
Financial problems began for Club Soda when COVID hit.
"We had to drop to half capacity," Ball said. "Since then, we've been struggling to keep up. Everything adds up."
The facility is down to 10 employees.
"That's real thin for the [clients] we have," Ball said. "We need more."
But, he added, "My staff is very great. They know when I've got something coming up, a big bill, and they know if I can't make it, they will donate their money back to us to pay the light bill."
Ball lauded his employees.
"They ain't here for a check — they don't make nothing," he said. "I really appreciate them. I'm blessed."
The Hometown Savings Bank has attempted to help Club Soda through its financial travails. Donors have pitched in, helping repair two vans. Phoenix House, a women's rehab facility, gave Club Soda $500. Melvin Burks, Hamilton Center president and CEO, donated $5,000 out of his own pocket, Ball said.
"He can't understand why nobody's reaching out to help us," he said of Burks. "We're helping the city and the county."
Burks said, "Club Soda has been around a long, long time. We at Hamilton Center have done business with Club Soda. I received a phone call indicating that their lights and electricity were off.
"I try to keep my donations anonymous, but they are community partners," Burks continued. "I said, 'If I had an opportunity to help, I just help' — they have helped a lot of people."
Ball has also reached out to the Vigo County Commissioners in an effort to keep Club Soda's doors open.
"Mr. Ball has presented twice at two separate Commissioners meetings," Commissioner Chris Switzer said. "We need to have further conversation with Mr. Ball. Hopefully that will happen in the coming weeks.
"We appreciate what Club Soda has been able to provide to our sober-living community, but have several questions, mostly financial, and how Club Soda has ended up in this dire situation," Switzer added. "Many of our rehabilitation facilities in Vigo County struggle with funding as most do not receive local, state, or federal funding. We're always willing to sit down and help when we can."
But the commissioners aren't in as healthy a condition to assist those who need it.
"I have to acknowledge the elephant in the room which is the Vigo County Commissioner's Community Development fund which has typically been the resource for situations just like this," Switzer said. "Since 2022, the Vigo County Council has slashed our budget from $100,000 to $30,000.
"We have used this money for the food pantry in West Terre Haute, local non-profits and other various organizations," he added. "There is some [American Rescue Plan Act] money left, but to be fair, it would be difficult to help one struggling organization and not all."
"Addiction bars none," Ball said. "Addiction's nothing to be ashamed of, it's what you do about it and overcome it. If I can overcome it, I believe that anybody can.
"By the grace of God, we're still here."
Those wishing to assist Club Soda can donate both at the Club and at The Hometown Savings Bank.
