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The Retreat @ Fernwood

The Retreat @ Fernwood is PRN’s peer-run respite in Raleigh. Retreats are spaces to restore, breathe, and connect when you are experiencing emotional distress or life feels overwhelming. Rather than going to an emergency department or hospital, The Retreat @ Fernwood is voluntary — no locks, no coercion and no shared rooms. This program is led by others with personal experience of working through crisis who will offer genuine connection and healing in a safe space where your privacy is honored and your dignity is upheld.
What We Do
What We Offer
Who We Support
Core Values
FAQs
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What is The Retreat @ Fernwood?

A peaceful peer-run environment where you can rest, reconnect, and restore during challenging moments.

The Retreat @ Fernwood is a peaceful and welcoming space to take a break, breathe, and regain a sense of balance during challenging times in your life. It is a space that offers comfort, privacy, and genuine connection with people who understand how overwhelming life can feel. Every stay is voluntary and grounded in respect, dignity, and the belief that we heal best in environments where we are safe, supported, and encouraged from others that have been in similar situations. The Retreat has a garden, art room, and many ways to heal on your terms at a pace that feels right to you.
What We Offer

What support does The Retreat @ Fernwood offer?

As a guest at The Retreat @ Fernwood, you choose how to spend your time. Whether you want to talk through your experiences, come up with a plan, explore resources and new ways of working through challenges or you want to rest, cook, paint, play an instrument, and go for walks, you choose. The Retreat @ Fernwood has games, art supplies, food, instruments, a garden and firepit. Nearby is PRN’s Recovery Hub, a space that has daily support groups, activities, classes, and computers. View this month’s Hub calendar.

We provide a ride to and from the Hub every day. If you go to school, work, have appointments or are a part of a treatment program, you can choose to continue while at The Retreat or elect to take a break from daily life to focus on your wellness. It’s up to you. After your stay ends, you can continue to receive peer support for a few months, go to the Recovery Hub & Cafe, or come back to The Retreat for an alumni dinner. There is no wrong way to heal — you know what is right for you and we are here 24/7 throughout your stay to listen and join you on the journey.

Who We Support

Who does The Retreat @ Fernwood support?

Guests of The Retreat @ Fernwood are over 18 and are seeking a peaceful space during times of stress, crisis, or emotional overwhelm. Often, people choose to come to The Retreat to avoid an emergency department, crisis unit or hospital stay. We welcome people who choose to come and are seeking a calm place to work through a crisis surrounded by peer support. The Retreat @ Fernwood is not a clinical space. We do not adjust medications or support people involuntarily and do not believe in fixing, controlling, monitoring, or confining people. We do honor each person’s experience and offer support to work through distress in a space that honors self-direction, autonomy, and wellness.
Our Core Values

What are the core values of The Retreat @ Fernwood?

Healing is a journey that we don’t need to take alone. Through our own experiences at The Retreat @ Fernwood, we recognize that trauma is often at the core of emotional distress and healing occurs in safe spaces, with community, and through authentic connections. The Retreat @ Fernwood is based on dignity, trust, radical hospitality, and shared experience. We value personal choice and privacy and believe in the innate wisdom of knowing what we need during periods of crisis and distress. These values, combined with opportunities to reflect, practice self-help and mutual aid, express creativity, and rest are central to our values at The Retreat @ Fernwood.
Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

Adults seeking a calm and supportive peer environment are welcome to stay.
No. There is no insurance requirement, and no referral is needed. Guests can call our respite directly to check availability.
If you choose to be a guest at one of PRN’s Retreats, you will have a private room, food, and access to 24/7 peer support. Each day you can choose activities to join at The Retreat or you can be a part of classes, groups, and daily activities at PRN’s Recovery Hub & Cafe. You can also choose to simply rest or, if you are a student, volunteer, or employee, continue to go to school or work. At The Retreat, it is your stay and your choice!
Yes. Our Retreats are designed to support your wellness without disrupting the routines that are important to you. Guests can choose to work, go to school, volunteer, and maintain appointments.
Yes. All guest stays are completely voluntary. PRN does not engage in force, involuntary treatment or coercion. Guests shape their own stay in ways that support their own well-being and comfort.
All stays are completely free. There is no cost to you, your family, or insurance required.
Guests can stay up to 10 days. If you just need a night, weekend, week or all 10 days, you decide how long your stay lasts.
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What makes The Retreat @ Fernwood different?

The Retreat @ Fernwood is grounded in lived experience. Everyone that works at The Retreat is someone that has personal experience with mental health labels, substance use challenges, and ancillary experiences who use their earned wisdom to support others on their journey to wellness. Unlike traditional crisis centers and hospitals, The Retreat @ Fernwood centers healing from trauma rather than managing behavior. We do this in a non-clinical, unlocked, fully voluntary space that is a fraction of the cost to operate that reduces reliance on the most expensive, most restrictive environments. Thanks to generous funders and donors like you, The Retreat is free. This allows for access without insurance and irrespective of ability to pay.

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