Empowering women with the resources and skills to take charge of their lives
Welcome to Darnice's Place!
About Us
About Us
Darnice's Place is a nonprofit social services organization created to provide life skills training and emergency assistance for mothers recently released from incarceration, many of whom are in recovery from substance abuse.
Our Vision
Our vision for Darnice's Place is to support women who have left prison. These women are often victims of domestic violence and may suffer from depression and alcohol and drug abuse. Their problems affect their children, leading to learning disabilities and mental illnesses. Everyone at Darnice's Place wants to have these women succeed in restarting their lives. Everyone in Darnice's Place is ready to give their all to fostering a healthy environment for these women and children in need.
Our Accomplishments
We have helped over 50 people since our organization was founded
Donating
We have donated various items: clothes, school books, and furniture.
Mentoring
We have conducted classes on parenting, life skills, job training, and towards receiving General Education Degree (GED).
Scheduling
We have scheduled visits and classes to treatment facilities, food banks, transitional housing
Subsidizing
We have subsidized or paid rent, food, transportation, and job training courses
Helping
We have helped reunite children with their mothers through legal procedures. We also have helped with writing resumes and preparing for job interviews
Supporting
We have conducted various drives to gather donations of food and clothes at Christmas time and throughout the year
Fundraising
We have fundraised through fish fry's, bowling competitions, and raffles.
Meet Our Staff
FOUNDER & CEO
Christine Yates is the driving force behind Darnice's Place. She has had over 13 years of substance abuse counseling and had prior work at counseling in a non-profit facility. She chose to found Darnice's Place as she already worked in correction facilities but wanted to create an organization that could help more women who didn't know where they would go after incarceration. She has seen women go through abuse, alcohol raping, and many more traumatic events. Through this organization, she wants to help empower these women.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sophia Ferguson is employed with the Child Protective Services Administration (CPS) with Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) in the District of Columbia. Ms. Ferguson is responsible for investigating abuse and neglect of children in Washington, DC. She is tasked with identifying the needs, services, and resources for families. Ms. Ferguson has worked with families struggling with substance abuse, mental health, and domestic violence. Ms. Ferguson has serviced families with absent parents due to death or incarceration. Further, she understands the difficulty for parents, especially mothers, to transition back into their home, family life, and community.
Warren K. Graham is employed with the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College as an Assistant Director of Field Education. Previously Warren was a NYS Office of Court Administration Project Director overseeing the administration of Nassau County Family Treatment Court and the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court. He was responsible for program development, supervision, management, and grant management.
Donnell Lawson currently works at New York University in the building maintenance department. He has 12 years of experience working with children between the ages of 2 and 12 in low-income neighborhoods in the New York City area. He provided educational lesson plans for 2 to 5 year olds (speaking, early writing and motor skills) and assisted with homework and tutoring for the 6 to 12 year old students. Donnell plans to bring this experience, knowledge, and dedication to the clients of Darnice’s Place Re-entry Transitional Housing Program.
Angela Macon has been in the Accounting/Finance industry for over 25 years. During that time she has held numerous positions such as Corporate Accountant, Staff Accountant, Accounting Manager, and Financial/Investment Specialist. She performed and processed month and year-end reports, accounts payable/receivable, cash receipts, general ledger, payroll and utilities, revenue and fixed assets reconciliations, statement reconciliations, and check runs. While her experience proves her generational knowledge and strength with accounting and number crunching, her true passion is working with people. In 2001, she transitioned from the Accounting field to Finance/Investments.
Lynnwood M. Powers is employed with the Montgomery Country Fire and Rescue Service as a Facilities Supervisor. His current position is responsible for the day to day management of maintenance activities at multiple locations, coordinating all major and minor repairs/upgrades at all fire and rescue facilities. Lynnwood has been working with clients who have substance abuse issues for the past 12 years. His electrical and plumbing expertise will be a great asset once Darnice’s Place has a facility, along with his dedication to working with clients to assist with striving them to a better way of life.
Cynthia West is employed with the Center for Accessible, Affordable, Health, Research and Education (CAARE) Incorporated as Certified Substance Abuse Counselor in Durham, North Carolina. Ms. West also holds two additional positions, one as Certified Peer Support Specialist for the past eight and an In-take Coordinator at the Wilmington Street Homeless Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cynthia is also a Board Member of the Recovery Community of Durham, NC (RCOD) in which she not only empowers others in recovery but the recovery lifestyle they are seeking. It promotes recovery in Durham NC by involving other agencies such as the Police Department, Probation Officers, Drug Court, Transitional Housing, and Recovery Houses, to learn and become more involved with the recovery community.