Niceville Good Neighbor: Dana Clah

Dana Clah, founder and president of Emerald Coast Life Center (ECLC), has been named the Niceville Good Neighbor of the Month for August by the Ryan Cabiness State Farm Agency of Niceville.

Clah was recognized for her work supporting individuals and families in the recovery process, focusing on reconciliation, reconnection, and restoration. She provides trauma-informed, mental health, and substance abuse education designed to help people build resilience and move toward healing and wellness. She also works to make sure locals and their families have the resources they need in the Niceville area!

Her efforts are rooted in her own experiences. After battling opioid addiction and serving time in jail, Clah said she faced a lack of support from both faith and mental health organizations. “I fell deeper into my opioid chemical dependency and just numbed because I didn’t have support,” she recalled. That experience led her to found ECLC to ensure others would not face the same isolation.

ECLC offers a range of programs, including a 425-hour, four-phase curriculum for inmates in the Okaloosa County jail. Courses cover anger management, relationship education, faith-based studies, parenting skills, and trauma-informed care. Clah said the focus is on addressing root causes, such as childhood trauma, that can lead to addiction and criminal behavior.

According to Clah, the approach is producing results. Of the 121 men served by ECLC this year, she reports only four have returned to jail. The organization also offers outpatient classes, trauma-informed care for first responders, and community art therapy programs.

ECLC operates offices in Holt and at the public defender’s office in Crestview, serving what Clah describes as underserved communities. “We’ve got to wrap our community with the tools that they need in order to become a healthy, striving community,” she said.