Mediation and Restorative Justice Center

08/29/2026

We're Hiring! Join the MRJC/ Homestead Recovery Center Team
Our team is growing — and we’re looking for two passionate, community-oriented individuals to join our team!

~Embedded Peer Support Specialist~
In partnership with the Town of Boone Police Department, this position serves as part of a co-response team, working alongside a designated officer to respond to behavioral health, substance use, and other community needs. The Embedded Peer Support Specialist provides on-scene peer support, crisis response, and follow-up connections to treatment, recovery services, housing, and other community resources.
Applicants should bring lived experience in recovery, strong communication and collaboration skills, and the ability to work effectively alongside law enforcement while maintaining the values and boundaries of peer support. NC Peer Support Specialist certification is preferred at hire and required within 90 days of employment.
This position works a rotating 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m., four days on/four days off (4-on/4-off) schedule, including weekdays and weekends. Agency-observed holidays are excluded.

~Avery Peer Support Specialist ~
This position will support individuals involved with or at risk of involvement in the justice system due to substance use, mental health, or behavioral health challenges. The role focuses on peer support, outreach, recovery support, advocacy, transportation, community engagement, and helping individuals navigate systems of care.
We’re looking for someone who is compassionate, community-minded, recovery-oriented, and passionate about walking alongside people as they work toward stability and wellness. Lived experience is valued, and NC Certified Peer Support Specialist certification is strongly preferred.
This is meaningful, relationship-centered work serving Avery County.

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Both positions are full-time, and part of our mission to create pathways of healing, recovery, and community connection across the High Country.

Apply for the Embedded Peer Support Specialist position on Indeed: https://www.indeed.com/job/embedded-peer-support-specialist-889f90bbe0f9a5f1

TO APPLY PLEASE COMPLETE INDEED APPLICATION AND SUBMIT:
- Resume
- Contact information for three (3) professional references
- Cover letter.

APPLICATIONS MISSING THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED OR CONSIDERED

To apply for the Avery Peer Support position please reach out directly to Mollie Bolick at [email protected] with the above documents and information.

07/20/2026

Shout out to our Avery Outreach Program! We are grateful for the support and partnership of Avery County.

“Marisa Cornell, executive director of the Mediation and Restorative Justice Center, said the county’s opioid settlement funding has dramatically expanded the organization’s reach over the past year. She said outreach coordinator Britney Matheson now manages about 30 active clients, nearly quadrupling last year’s caseload, while the organization has strengthened partnerships with local providers, particularly Freedom Life Avery.

The organization also launched “Wheels of Change,” a mobile outreach unit that has held weeklong pop-up events across the county since December, providing food, clothing, naloxone, hygiene supplies and peer support.

Community Programs and Outreach Specialist Mackenzie Laney said Matheson served 64 clients through case management over the past year and facilitated 42 weekly SMART Recovery meetings after becoming a certified facilitator. Attendance has grown from an average of 15 participants to 27 over the past three months, with one meeting drawing 34 people, Laney said.

Matheson described her role as providing transportation, case management, peer support, recovery court participation and help connecting clients to treatment and housing.

‘My role is not to judge where they are, but to support them at every stage,’ Matheson told commissioners. ‘By meeting people where they are, I can create a meaningful relationship that fosters lasting change and recovery.’”

NEWLAND — Avery County commissioners renewed a key board appointment, approved $150,000 in opioid settlement funding, adopted a series of budget amendments tied to grants and Hurricane Helene recovery, and

07/07/2026

No one is more deserving of this recognition from the Town of Boone, North Carolina than our own Homestead Recovery Center Director, Mollie Bolick! Mollie inspires compassion and hope through both her vision and her actions, and this honor reflects the extraordinary impact she has had on the community.

We are incredibly proud to have Mollie as part of the MRJC team, and we are grateful for the example she sets every day.

BOONE — On the nation's 250th birthday, the Town of Boone gave its highest honor to a recovery center director transforming lives and a chapter of women dedicated to preserving

02/26/2026

We are so honored to be recognized by our community!

02/22/2026

We had a great time today at WCCI’s Winter Family Fun Fest!

01/31/2026

We are deeply grateful to Carolina Mountain Life for featuring MRJC and Homestead Recovery Center in their Winter issue.

The article, “No Tough Love, Just Love Tough,” beautifully captures the heart of our work—meeting people where they are, centering dignity, and leading with restorative, peer-led practices rooted in compassion.

We believe real change happens through relationship, accountability with care, and communities that choose connection over stigma. Thank you to Carolina Mountain Life for helping tell this story and for uplifting recovery approaches grounded in humanity and hope.

You can pick up the free magazine in print for the next few months, or you can read the full feature here:

Health & Wellness Home Page photo: Mollie Bolick, Executive Director of Homestead Recovery Center, and Katlynd Taylor, LEAD Case Manager, conducting overdose reversal trainings along King St. on Overdose Awareness Day 2025. Above: Homestead Recovery Center Staff in Boone, NC No Tough Love, Just Love...