Campaign

Nic Pagano LGBTQ Scholarship Fund

Caron has partnered with the Release Recovery Foundation (ReleaseRecoveryFoundation.org) to create the Nic Pagano Scholarship Fund. This Caron treatment scholarship aims to improve access to care for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Caron prides itself on offering a safe and culturally sensitive environment with empathetic and understanding LGBQTIA+ staff and allies offering connection and support. Services address stigma, heterosexism, internalized homophobia, and discrimination. Release Recovery Foundation was founded in 2020 to help individuals from communities who are typically underserved to obtain world class treatment.

Nic Pagano, an alumnus of Caron and Release Recovery, tragically passed away in July 2021 from an accidental opioid overdose. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Nic recently articulated his interest in becoming a voice for the fairness and rights of the Transgender community. At his sober living home, Nic was a compassionate go-to in welcoming new clients arriving from in-patient treatment, helping to make them feel comfortable in their new living environment. Nic was a talented actor with a level of success on stage and in film. His passion for movies and music would always create colorful and engaging artistic conversations yet a career in therapeutic healing seemed to be his calling.

“We started The Release Recovery Foundation to help individuals who just didn’t have the same access to treatment that I had growing up. We identified the LGBTQIA community as one where we could make a difference,” said Zac Clark, a Caron Board Member who co-founded the foundation with Justin Gurland. “Nic’s memory and desire to be a voice for the LGBTQIA+ community will live on, helping many others access recovery,” Gurland said.

release recovery foundation

Your Gift Can Make a Difference

Caron also leads the industry in scholarship care providing more aid to families who cannot afford treatment than three of the recognized treatment centers combined. Caron not only dedicates a percentage of patient revenue to scholarship care, we are also fortunate to be able to partner with family, friends and corporate leaders to raise scholarship dollars that go directly to helping patients and their families recover from this devastating disease. Unfortunately, there are still families who cannot afford treatment. Your gift, regardless of the size, will help us begin to bridge this financial gap.

If you wish to donate by mail, please make checks payable to Release Recovery Foundation, noting your donation is for the Nic Pagano Scholarship Fund and send to:

Release Recovery Foundation
482 Underhill Ave
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Please write "Nic Pagano" in the memo section of the check

When you provide a check as payment, you authorize us either to use the information from your check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from your account or to process the payment as a check transaction.

Click here to donate on the Release Recovery Foundation site, and please write “Nic Pagano” in the “In Honor” section.

To donate to Nic’s fund, click on the button below and navigate to Named Scholarship Funds and then to the drop down link where you will find The Nic Pagano LGBTQ Scholarship Fund.

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