Our enrollment staff at Red Oak Recovery® specializes in serving clients and families in need. By accurately assessing addiction severity, trauma, and mental illness risk, our team assigns you or a loved one to the comprehensive care model designed for their individual needs to ensure that Red Oak Recovery® provides the best care for your loved one.
Maggie Cain, LCMHCA
Director of Business Development
Maggie is a Katy, Texas native before moving to play collegiate tennis in Arkansas. There she found her first career and love for helping people. Her first job landed her in the nonprofit fundraising sector. For thirteen years she was blessed with getting to raise awareness and much-needed funds for children and families seeking support, hope, and love through programs for psychiatric, emotional, and behavioral health care in Arkansas. After earning her Masters in Mental Health and Clinical Counseling in 2016 from Southern Arkansas University, she became a Licensed Associate Counselor in Arkansas and recently (2018) transferred her license to North Carolina as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate. Additionally, for fourteen months beginning in December 2016, Maggie provided part-time counseling for Bradford Health Services IOP of Little Rock. Working with the clients and their families at Bradford Health Services. That experience, and her love of helping people, led her to a desire to stay in addiction treatment. Maggie found herself seeking through the clients’ strengths and desires for help to be a part of a team that feels the same passion for helping and ensures every client an opportunity to succeed. Maggie’s biggest strength is that she finds daily happiness in helping others and helping families heal. Maggie lives in Mills River, with her husband and three very little children.
Doug Carter, CADC, WFR
Admissions Manager
Doug moved to Asheville from Maryland’s Eastern shore to pursue a career in wilderness and adventure therapy. His background encompasses restaurant management, agriculture, equine therapy, environmental literacy, and outdoor education. Before his work in enrollment, he served as a Recovery Guide and then Program Manager for Red Oak Recovery®. Doug is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington College with degrees in English and Art History; upon graduating, he was a finalist for the Sophie Kerr Prize, the nation’s largest literary award for undergraduate creative writing. One of Doug’s passions is teaching others how to cultivate the resources necessary to evolve as individual members of a team. Discovering value in varying perspectives, as well as fostering effective communication skills, propels his mission to enhance client and employee culture in the Red Oak community. His continuing education as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor has led him to incorporate self-inquiry, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and spiritual awareness in his professional and personal life. At home, Doug finds himself fermenting food, tending to plants, reading, writing, and exploring the natural world. His belief in the connection of mental and physical health has inspired him to unify a practice of running, yoga, meditation, and high-intensity interval training. If not immersed in a hobby, Doug spends his time sitting by a fire under the stars with his partner.
Wesley Culpepper
Senior Admissions Counselor
Wesley Culpepper grew up in Columbus, GA where he enjoyed playing sports and spending time outdoors. In high school, he began to struggle with addiction and was sent to boarding school, where his substance use only escalated. After multiple attempts in college and bouncing around between treatment centers, he finally gained the willingness to accept help from others. In June 2017, Wesley moved to Asheville and began his journey to obtain long-term sobriety. Now, he is active in the recovery community and is living a fulfilling life helping others achieve sobriety. Wesley has worked in several different roles within the treatment industry including direct care, case management, family communication, operations, and now enrollment. This experience helped him to develop a desire for working closely with families of loved ones in treatment, which led him to join the enrollment team at Red Oak Recovery®. Wesley has also recently completed the ARISE 3.5-Day Comprehensive Care with Invitational Intervention Workshop and will soon begin supervision to become a Certified ARISE Interventionist. Wesley is passionate about helping patients who are struggling and showing them that they can accomplish anything if they are willing to ask for help and accept it. Wesley spends his free time enjoying all that Asheville has to offer. You can often find him running long distances, hiking, and camping with his wife Nancy, and their dog Etta. Wesley also enjoys mountain biking in Bent Creek and paddle boarding along the French Broad. Wesley and Nancy are also expecting a child in the spring and are looking forward to this new chapter in their life.
Kimber Ward
Admissions Counselor
Kimber is a western North Carolina native, she loves the outdoors, art, and has a passion for mental health. Kimber’s interest in mental health began as she saw many of her loved ones suffer from mental health and substance abuse throughout the years. Her background includes obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Western Carolina University and working with community-based outpatient mental health services within the area. Kimber wishes to one day pursue her Master of Social Work so she can become a LCSW and be a therapist herself. In Kimber’s free time she likes to be with her pets Mylo and Cheddar, walk around in the woods, kayak, and create artwork!
Chris Taylor
Admissions Counselor
Chris grew up in Atlanta, GA where he enjoyed playing football and lacrosse throughout high school. Chris then attended Georgia College and Georgia State University and graduated in 2014 with a degree in Outdoor Education with a minor in Psychology. His plan was to work in wilderness therapy, but life took him in another direction, where he was a service manager for a pest control company in the greater Atlanta area. Struggling with his own mental health issues and going through treatment, he wanted to find a way to give back to those that are struggling. This landed him in Asheville where he initially worked as a house manager for a local aftercare. Chris then began his journey with Red Oak as a recovery support specialist at The Willows at Red Oak Recovery® shortly after. He also served as a team supervisor before joining the admissions team. While at The Willows he was able to lead groups on backpacking trips and experiential activities and share his love for the outdoors. Outside of work, you can find Chris enjoying a round of disc golf, rock climbing, and spending some quality time with his partner and dog.
MARKETING TEAM
Carol Rose, MHDL
Collegiate and Community Outreach Specialist
Carol earned her Master’s in Counseling from UNC Charlotte. Her degree has taught her the importance of being a good listener and building a trusting relationship whether she is working with the individual asking for help, a family member, or a mental health professional. Carol believes that during a time of crisis, trust is paramount to find a good place to heal. Carol was the founding coordinator for The Collegiate Recovery Program at UNC Charlotte, a program offering support to students in early recovery, it was there that she developed her own trusting relationships with her community in order to grow the program. Carol also brings personal experience with addiction within her own family, which she shares to offer hope to families in need. Her personal experience allows her to empathize and explain the journey a family will take not only while at Red Oak, but beyond. Helping families find continued support within their community is a big part of Carol’s job as a Collegiate and Clinical Outreach Specialist. In her spare time, Carol enjoys watching old movies, spending time with her husband of nearly 40 years, Marty and being proud of her two grown daughters and seeing them thrive.
Sam Hayes
Outreach Coordinator
Sam grew up in Orange County, North Carolina where he loved being outside, playing sports, and spending time with family. He began to struggle with addiction in high school and it continued to escalate into his 20’s. After many attempts at treatment Sam found himself at a wilderness program in Asheville in 2018 where he learned coping skills and forged a connection with nature. Since finding recovery, Sam has found education to be therapeutic and vital to his well-being. He graduated from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 2021 with an Associate Degree and is now enrolled in Western Carolina’s Business Administration and Law program. Sam began working in the treatment industry as direct care staff and as a case manager. He has also been working towards attaining his CADC and is a Certified Peer Support Specialist. While working in recovery, Sam has found that working with families of those suffering from substance use disorder provides him with sense of purpose and fulfillment. Sam enjoys spending his free time hanging out with friends, tending to his garden, exercising, and running around the yard with his dog Cricket.
Gracie Fender
Marketing Officer
Gracie was born and raised in Mills River, NC. She grew up in a family-owned restaurant which grew her passion got people and connections. After living in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a year where she started her career as a social media strategist and marketing manager, she decided to move back to her roots to searching the same passions and connections that she was raised on, which led her to Red Oak Recovery®. As Marketing officer, Gracie brings her love of marketing and creative skills to connect, inspire, and be a light in families and individuals who thirst for a new perspective and inspiration to make a change. Gracie thrives on her morning coffee and puppy cuddles from her sweet dog Rosie. She loves hiking and spending quality time with her fiancé, Cole. She will also never say no to a good country concert or anything that involves chocolate!
ALUMNI
Max Rava
Alumni Coordinator
Adopted from Bogota, Colombia, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Max is a graduate of Saint Louis University with a B.A. in Latin American and International Studies. After graduation, he worked in policy analysis and politics in Washington, DC. For the last eight years, he has pursued the entrepreneurial path. His most recent project is the TechArtista ecosystem of coworking spaces in St. Louis, Missouri. Currently, Max has returned to his alma mater as a Professional Masters of Business Administration student. He is passionate about helping people achieve their personal, startup, and small business goals. Max graduated from Red Oak Recovery® in 2014 where he began his journey to treat alcoholism and grief-related trauma. He has received much support in his life’s academic, professional, and recovery areas in the years since, and still maintains friendships with a few of his former Red Oak roommates. Max is excited to return to Red Oak in a different capacity as an Alumni Coordinator. He is eager to share his recovery journey and impart lessons learned in business and his involvement in twelve step recovery. In his leisure time, Max enjoys cooking, distance running, powerlifting, and traveling.
