About us
The second Recovery Community Organization in Florida
Founded in 2014 and a 501(c)(3) since December 2015, Recovery Epicenter Foundation exists to make recovery more accessible — and to build a pathway back to full citizenship for people who suffer from a substance use disorder.
Our story
From sober-home standards to a recovery movement
2014
A purpose forms
Founded as a nonprofit charity helping sober living programs gain Florida Association of Recovery Residences (FARR) accreditation.
2015
501(c)(3)
Granted 501(c)(3) status in December under first volunteer Executive Director Jessica Leigh Scott, becoming the second ARCO member in the State of Florida.
2016
Becoming an RCO
With FARR accreditation now required by Florida law, the original mission was complete. Recovery Epicenter became the second Recovery Community Organization in the state, led by Executive Director William Atkinson.
2022
Outreach peers
Began providing Outreach Peer Support across Pinellas and Pasco counties through a subcontract with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network.
2023
The Catcher's Mitt
Opened an 18-bed Peer Respite duplex in Pinellas through a community partnership grant from Baycare Health Systems — low-barrier stabilization for people the emergency system can't hold.
2024
Narcan, everywhere it's needed
The Purple Box campaign put anonymously accessible Narcan stations across Pasco; a PSTA partnership stocked every major Pinellas transit hub.
2025
The Outfield
Pasco Year Two Opioid Abatement funding opened a second Peer Respite center in February, serving 360 people before it closed in January 2026.
2026
A café, and a classroom
The Beloved Community Café opened in downtown St. Petersburg, and Hillsborough Opioid Abatement funding put free CRRA training and FARR certification within reach of every sober living operator in the county.
Founders
Started by people in recovery
Recovery Epicenter was founded by William Atkinson (a person in long-term recovery since 2006), Edward Jones (since 2010) and Carlos Morgan (since 2009) — meeting at a Starbucks with the newly formed nonprofit's first participant to work out how it could support people in early recovery. Jessica Leigh Scott, in long-term recovery since 2011, led the organization to its 501(c)(3) as first volunteer Executive Director; William Atkinson has led it since.
Our staff
Peers first
William Atkinson
Co-Founder & Executive Director
A person in long-term recovery since 2006 and co-founder of the Recovery Epicenter Foundation. CRRA, CRSS, CRPS Trainer.
John Wittman
Chief Operations Officer
A person in long-term recovery since 2021, and Secretary of the Foundation's Board of Directors. CRRA and CRPS in training.
Lindsey McKeown
Chief Financial Officer & Human Resources
A person in long-term recovery since 2017. CRRA, CRPS, CRPS Trainer and Supervisor.
Stephanie DiMarco
Outreach Director
A person in long-term recovery since 2020. CRPS.
Karah Balentine
Peer Respite Director
A person in long-term recovery since 2023. CRPS, and CRRA in training.
Our board
Who holds us to it
Amanda Pettay
Board Chair
Amanda Pettay is a person in long-term recovery, sober since May 2014, whose journey has looked a lot like life itself — messy, transformative, and never walked alone. In the years since getting sober, Amanda has lost jobs, weathered major traumatic life events, launched a business, and bought a home. Through every one of those moments — the hard ones and the triumphant ones — the recovery community was there. Not just as a safety net in difficult times, but as a mirror in the good ones, reflecting back the strength and lessons she had quietly been building all along.
That lived experience is what brought Amanda to the board of Recovery Epicenter Foundation. When she attended a Tampa Bay Lightning Recovery Night and saw REF's work up close — the peer connections, the presence, the proof that community changes lives — she recognized something familiar in it. Today, as Board Chair, she brings both her personal story and her professional background as a financial and tax strategist to help REF grow its mission across the Tampa Bay region. Recovery showed Amanda how to love herself, how to give back, and what it truly means to be held by a community that refuses to let you go it alone. She lives that out daily — alongside her rescue dog Banjo, who, if you ask anyone who knows them, is very much part of the team.
Dominic Grefsrud
Board Vice Chair
Dominic wants to be a conduit of change and a beacon of hope to those struggling with substance abuse and mental health conditions. He has constantly said that he does this work to prevent people from making the same mistakes he did — if he can encourage change in someone's life, those mistakes were not in vain.
As part of community outreach in the addiction field and co-founder of an intervention and sober transport company, Dominic brings a great passion to his role of helping those struggling with addiction. Before his days of helping others find treatment, he was the one who needed help. Dominic's addiction started early, at the age of 14. By adulthood, substances had taken over his life. He lost everything, but with the help of others, he was able to change his fate.
Once in recovery, Dominic found himself with the drive to help people who are struggling with addiction. He took part in a three-part docuseries to share his story and let others know they are not alone. He shows everyone that you can change and have a happy life — no matter the evils you are struggling with today, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Today, you can find Dominic enjoying his hobbies of fixing cars, mudding, and Jeep clubs. He has over eight years of clean time and enjoys everything his hard work has earned him. Dominic is happily married and working his dream job by giving back and providing crucial support to those on their recovery journey.
Dan Wood
Board Treasurer
Awaiting bio.
John Wittman
Board Secretary
A person in long-term recovery since 2021, and the Foundation's Chief Operations Officer. CRRA and CRPS in training.
Josh Dirscherl
Board Member
Joshua is the owner and Managing Director of Recovery Resolutions, a recovery residence program operating in the Tampa Bay region, and was the original regional director of the Pinellas and Pasco Oxford Recovery homes in Florida from 2022 to 2025 before leaving to pursue his own program. As a person in long-term recovery and a recovery infrastructure entrepreneur, he has opened over 30 recovery homes in central Florida, creating over 1,000 beds for individuals seeking a safe and supportive living environment to recover. He provides additional support through job opportunities for people in early recovery to become self-supporting through home remodeling and construction efforts. Josh is active in the recovery community, passionate about helping people with the dis-ease we share.
Anthony Schomber
Board Member
Awaiting bio.
2026–2027 state appropriation
With thanks to those who championed us
A special thank you to Senator Rouson and Congresswoman Berfield for championing our state appropriation through the Florida State Legislature for the 2026–2027 fiscal year.
Statewide
Attached to Floridians for Recovery
Our advocacy connects to the statewide Recovery Community Organization — one movement demanding a pathway back to full citizenship for people in recovery.
Together
The company we keep
Partners in the work, and the newsrooms that have covered it.
Add your name to the movement
Recovery is a collective effort — recovering person, family member, employer. There's a role for you.