Detox center dried out

A Rancho Cordova substance abuse center sent out a Veterans Day SOS that it closed its detox center after 23 years due to delayed funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

D&A Detox Inc. is a nonprofit treatment and sober living program that helps a lot of military veterans, says volunteer fundraiser Jordan Kimball. “They had to shut down the detox center unfortunately, which is the heart of the operation,” Kimball told SN&R.

D&A would pick up male veterans from the Sacramento VA Medical Center in Mather, enroll them in the weeklong detox program and then transition them to sober living homes for 90 days. Kimball says the program was unique in that it saw substance abusers through the initial process of recovery at more affordable costs than other programs.

“They helped me out in the past,” Kimball said.

Now he’s trying to return the favor.

Kimball says the loss of founder and CFO David Troutman spelled the beginning of a tumultuous period in which D&A closed its thrift store and VA payments stalled for the detox part of the program. For the first time, Kimball says, CEO Zelda Troutman, David’s widow, is accepting public help through a GoFundMe campaign and donation pathway on D&A’s website. As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe drive had only raised $85 toward its $250,000 goal.

D&A’s most recent IRS filings from 2017 list Zelda Troutman as its only paid officer at $89,200 annually. The rehab and addiction treatment center also employs counselors and support staff. Add in lodging, insurance and outside services, and D&A’s expenses added up to a little more than $1 million in 2017—about $100,000 more than what it raised in revenue.

“Within the course of the year, everything changed for them,” Kimball said.