Did you know Vince Carter plopped down $1.6 million in 2008 toward the construction of a drug rehabilitation facility in Bunnell, Fla., a town half an hour up the road from Daytona Beach? Did you know that Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare, the operators of the $8 million facility, named it in Carter's honor when it opened in 2009? Did you know they endeavored to make the establishment a glimmering jewel of the detox business, a potential competitor to the Betty Ford Clinic?
You probably didn't know any of that. But, given that we've told you Vince Carter was prominently involved, you probably know what happened next, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal:
An exclusive residential drug and alcohol treatment program in Bunnell is closing its doors and laying off about 40 employees.
The Vince Carter Sanctuary will stop offering residential drug treatment services Friday, said Chet Bell, director of Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare, the nonprofit organization that operates the facility.
The center is being converted to accommodate women struggling with addiction, a dramatic departure from the facility's original vision of becoming a world-class treatment destination on par with the Betty Ford Center.
"We have struggled for the operations to break even," Bell said. "Looking forward, our assessment was it was not going to be a profitable venture for us, and it would be better to reorganize around our core mission."
That "core mission" apparently was "helping addicts," rather than "attempting to profit from the addicted rich who can afford to pay $27,000 out-of-pocket." Good enough. This is the most Vince Carter's failures have ever done to help a community.
Struggling Vince Carter Sanctuary rehab closes; to change focus [Daytona Beach News-Journal, h/t Tom]