In many cases, when individuals serious about getting and staying sober return from rehabilitation programs they are faced with the glum prospect of returning to living situations in which drugs and alcohol continue to be present.
In other cases, supportive parents or other family members may be nearby, but that is not always the best living arrangement.
But in the not too distant future, a bright home in a good neighborhood near downtown Bellefontaine may await local women who find themselves in just such scenarios.
“This works well for people who are serious about recovery and is a place they would want to return to,” Jon Brown of Residential Administrators said of a historic home that has been identified as the best suitable option for a women’s recovery house.
The Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties is using state grant funding to provide recovery housing in the two counties and has entered into an approximately $180,000 contract with home renovator Cliff Cronkleton, of HER Realty, on a 216 E. Chillicothe Ave. historic home.
Residential Administrators, which operates several other houses in the two counties as mental health residences, would own and administrate the women’s recovery house here and one for men that is being sought in Urbana.
The MHDAS plan is modeled after the successful House of Hope homes in Columbus, which are typically located in historic residential neighborhoods and involve residents becoming active and productive additions to the community, Mr. Brown and Tammy Nicholl of the MHDAS board said.
“When we went to the House of Hope in Columbus, the character of the house was a great environment that is conducive to recovery,” Mr. Brown said. “We are trying to get people out of atmospheres that are not conducive to treatment. Some of these people have never lived in a home like this and it can open their eyes up to what they can have.”
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HOME PAGE SLIDE SHOW: Members of the recovery housing committee of the Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties meet Friday morning outside of the 216 E. Chillicothe Ave. home that is at the top of the list for a women’s recovery house in Bellefontaine. ABOVE: The home’s front entry foyer and wooden staircase. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | REUBEN MEES)
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