September 4, 2025 •Ann Daugherty
Serenity in the country continues at Tara after 23 years.
Editor's Note: The late Ann Daugherty, founder of Tara Treatment Center, published "One Dream - A Thousand Miracles," which shared the story of her vision and the remarkable start of the addiction recovery center. We are pleased to present the chapters of the book as part of our 40th Anniversary of helping people survive and thrive. We invite you to read Ann's words and draw inspiration from them.
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During this decision-making time, the Board of Directors recommended that I attend a family retreat. It was 1993, and the Board of Directors counseled me to take some time for myself and my family. One of them told me that I reminded them of the movie; I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can, because I pushed myself so hard. I decided to take their advice and went off to Hazelden’s Family Program for a week. Hazelden has always been renowned as one of the top drug and alcohol treatment centers in the world. Since my company had no travel money to send me, I put it on my charge card, which only served to add to my stress level. Overall, I found this experience to be very positive in regards to my well-being, but also in understanding the treatment experience from the client’s perspective. I remember specifically feeling very lonely one night and taking a soft, warm blanket into my room. I had found the blanket draped over the couch in a living area, just outside of my room. As I found myself reflecting, cuddled in the blanket, I was confronted by the staff housekeeper. I guess she was suspicious of me and told another staff member that I had taken the blanket into my room. I was instructed that the blanket needed to go back into the living area and was not allowed in my room. Looking back, I oddly remember how much that hurt my feelings. For some reason, I never forgot that moment and have vowed that people would always be more important to me than material possessions.
In time, I was forced to make some difficult and personal decisions about Tara. After both living and working at Tara for nine years, the Board of Directors advised me to move out of the center. Since opening Tara, I had always lived on the second story, just above the main floor. It was their advice that I not continue to live at Tara. Like many things in my life, I found this to be a bittersweet lesson. Moving away from the house that I loved so much taught me that it is not good to love something, a building or object, too much. I learned this lesson at Tara and once again arrived at the same truth; that people were more important than things.
Although I knew that the Board was right, I found it sad leaving the house that I had shared with so many others. In 1994, I bought a lovely house on a nearby lake. Although it was a beautiful home in a serene setting, it never brought me the joy that living at Tara did. Even then, I understood that it was only logical for us to move away from Tara. Living and working within the same environment definitely had its toll. My husband and I did not always agree on issues and the numerous arguments were unavoidable in that setting. It was as if we lived in a fishbowl-like existence. Despite this, the decision to leave Tara was a difficult one to make.
A sad part of this chapter of my life is the story of my husband at the time, Jim, who was a man with a good heart and a compassion for those struggling with addiction and alcoholism. Despite these strengths, he struggled to cope with his own issues of chronic depression. After being on several medication regimes, he came to a place where he told me that he wanted to leave. I was very upset, and accused him of wanting to use drugs again. Unfortunately, after leaving he did in fact return to drinking alcohol and using drugs. Although he was always open and forthcoming about being in recovery from alcoholism, he did not like to identify his addiction to prescription medication. This was unfortunate, as the prescription drugs were pre-eminent in his relapse. Two years later, after abusing his body through heavy alcohol and drug use, he died in 1997. He often said that he would rather be dead than go through the hell of active drug and alcohol use.
The story of my late husband, Jim, truly reinforces promises told within the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous. The literature of Alcoholics Anonymous talks about three roads for the actively drinking alcoholic: jails, institutions, and death. This proved true for Jim, as he was dead within two years of drinking and using again. Recovery literature states that our body holds our chemical secret, and when an alcoholic/addict picks up the next drink or drug, they do not start over, they start right where they would have been if they had not stopped. The disease of addiction is progressive and the deterioration begins very quickly.
After Jim’s death, many local newspapers identified him as the co-founder of Tara. Since it is important to me that the history of Tara is documented accurately, I feel that I need to point out this inaccuracy. I believe that it is not uncommon in today’s society to assume that the success of such an endeavor involves a male. This was simply not the case. While Jim was always an important part of Tara, I was the sole founder of the organization. I believe that it is important that my daughters, granddaughter, and other aspiring women understand that if you can dream it, you can independently make it happen.
Next: Growth and Change
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Ann's Story.
Ann Daugherty knew firsthand how alcoholism and drug addiction could affect the lives of families and loved ones.
Her personal pain as a result of her brother’s death at 36 from alcoholism inspired her to help others.
Ann worked for several years as a master’s level psychiatric nurse and therapist, specializing in the field of addiction for most of her career. Through her prior employment, she became aware of a grant available for the treatment of women with addictions.
She researched and wrote a grant proposal to open the original eight-bed Residential Program. A location for the facility was not an obstacle for her, as she had a history of opening her home to those in need. Her efforts were rewarded in July 1985, with funding for Tara.
Throughout the years, Ann recognized the multiple needs of individuals served, which resulted in program and facility expansion. In July, 1996 Tara became a Managed Care Provider offering a full continuum of services for men and women.
Although diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer in 2003, she remained the Chief Executive Officer until July 2006. At that time she presented her eldest daughter, Theresa Matthews, to the Board of Directors as her successor, noting that she had worked closely with her since Tara’s inception. Ann's fight ended August 25, 2008. Her mission and vision have been embraced by many and still continue today.