This month, a sober living home in Port Clinton, Ohio raised more than $33,000 to open a new recovery residence to help women who are residents of Ottawa County.
Currently, there are no sober living homes or recovery centers for women in the county.
But local policymakers and law enforcement officials have stated that the need for the establishment of a recovery home to serve the local women is clear and that the lack of such facility has negatively impacted the safety of the region. According to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, there were 42 women that were arrested in the county last year after they committed a drug-related crime while back in 2010, there were only 10.
The home, dubbed Light House Sober Living, already has welcomed and assisted many men who were recovering from substance use disorders in their male-only facility, which has operated in Port Clinton since 2014.
Since its establishment, the sober living home for men has been promoting holistic approaches to addiction recovery, focusing on spirituality, fellowship, encouragement and faith-based values.
Light House Sober Living is a nonprofit organization that has been running with the contributions of the community members and the financial support of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services as well as from the local Mental Health and Recovery Board.
The sober living home can welcome a total of 10 men, who do not get to receive addiction treatment services there but who work on their recovery by attending peer support group meetings and taking advantage of other substance abuse services offered in the area.
The services offered by the sober living home include employment, parenting, transportation, and addiction treatment referral assistance as well as sessions that help the residents about daily skills, such as cleaning and cooking.
The team running the home includes an executive board with 12 volunteers, an on-site house manager, and one executive director in addition to advisory committees.
They stated that they are currently aiming to establish a recovery residence that reflects the values and the mission of the men’s facility.
In order to accomplish that goal, the representatives of the sober living home have partnered with the Leadership Ottawa County program — a yearly community leadership development program that assists the members of the local community and the business leaders of the area to learn more about their county.
The program lasts nine months and includes activities, projects, and trips that aim to improve leadership among locals and address the needs of the community.
The Leadership Ottawa County class of 2017/2018 organized two fundraisers which allowed them to raise the money for the new Light House Sober Living women’s recovery home.
The representatives of the sober living home stated that they already have a couple of different properties in mind but the address of the new recovery facility has not yet been confirmed.
They stated that their next steps will be to finalize a property purchase agreement, get a state grant and continue to raise funds to cover the costs of the new sober living center.
The Leadership Ottawa County is committed to raising $50,000 for the new sober living home.
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
