LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Dino Davis is the executive director of the Quality Living Center in Little Rock. 

It’s an alcohol and drug rehab facility located on Asher Avenue and they hope to be a beacon of positivity to that area.

“It’s not all bad on Asher at all and sometimes Asher gets a bad name,” Davis said.

Davis runs a tight ship.  He said he has to because many of the folks checked into the facility need the strong structure they try to put forth because they have not had much in their lives.

“We take people’s lives serious.  People come to us because we’re sort of like the last house on the block, people are hurting,” David explained.

Elizabeth Keenzel is a graduate of the program and she went through in 2015.  She said she hit rock bottom in her life before realizing she needed to make a change.

“I had lost all contact with my family, I didn’t have anybody in my corner at all so I said it was time for me to get my life together,” Keenzel explained.

Part of the structure set forth by QLC is the operation of a thrift store and a car wash. 

“It also provides an outlet for them for pre-employment.  So we try to help them with their job skills and just all around their attitudes,” Davis added.

He said many times people who have come through the program are some of the best workers that partnering businesses have. 

Keenzel said the jobs by the facility provide a sense of responsibility for people who haven’t had any.  It builds the foundation they need to be able to get their lives on track.

“Getting up and going to work and doing the right thing and staying active and being around positive people in a positive environment,” Keenzel said.

Keenzel believes in the program so much that she is now a counselor-in-training.  She said her experiences of being an addict and being able to dig herself out of the hole helps her to relate to those newer to the program. 

“If somebody like me can get sober I know anybody who walks through this door, if they’re ready, they can do it as well,” Keenzel said.