Housing needed to aid in recovery

The writer of last week’s Finding a Fix column, Barbara Dacri, the director of Crossroads for Women, was absolutely right. Women suffering from substance abuse in Maine need more programs specifically geared to women’s needs. Women also need safe, sober homes to stay in while they build a solid foundation for their recovery.

Since returning to the Ellsworth area 12 years ago, I have volunteered my time helping women who are trying to recover from substance abuse. While doing this, I have become acutely aware of the lack of transitional homes for women in Hancock, Washington and Penobscot counties. Many women leaving jail, detox or rehab return to homes where substance, physical and emotional abuse are taking place.

The first year is critical in forming a solid foundation for a lifetime of recovery. If these women had more time, guidance and tools to deal with their addictions, then they might have a better chance at recovering.

I firmly believe the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous offer the tools needed on a daily basis for continued, long-term recovery. I believe if these women had a safe home in which to live after they detoxed, where they had the time to learn and practice the 12 steps, they would have a chance at full recovery.

And so the vision for a nonprofit, 12-step recovery home for women was born.

What is a full recovery? I believe it is the ability to live life without the fear of drinking or using. Even more, it is the confidence to participate fully in all aspects of life without feeling trapped or limited by addiction. I believe that at the heart of a full recovery is a spirituality that transcends every difficulty, every compulsion. I believe full recovery opens the door to healed relationships, restored dreams, and more love than any addict knew when using.

In recent years, my husband and I have discussed the idea of opening a recovery home. This past year we started sharing our vision with others and decided we would name the home “The Woods.” We are researching and visiting other recovery homes in Maine and other states, talking with many people, attending substance abuse conferences and learning about starting a nonprofit service.

Our mission is to provide a transitional home for women 18 years and older who have fully detoxed and need time to learn how to live their lives without drugs and alcohol. We will provide a safe, affordable, drug- and alcohol-free residential home for women and their children, a home that promotes long-term sobriety through the practice of the 12-steps.

Although The Woods will not be affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, it will be based on the practice of the principles found in the 12 steps. We will use the 12 steps as life-changing tools that make it possible for women to achieve and practice new attitudes and life skills, including self-sufficiency, resiliency, self-support, responsibility, self-respect, honesty, integrity, assertiveness, discipline, accountability, and establishing the habits of self-examination and meditation.

The Woods will provide a structured and supportive environment that addresses emotional, social, physical, spiritual and family issues using existing community resources. Our residents will take advantage of outside counseling, parenting classes, anger-management classes, educational counseling for GED and-or college degrees, employment training, legal advice, spiritual direction, faith communities and more. Individual recovery plans will be tailored to the needs of each woman and her children. We anticipate the average length of stay will be 12 to 18 months.

As we’ve discussed The Woods with others, doors have opened wide. I was accepted into a training course called “New Venture Entrepreneurship Training” through the Augusta-based nonprofit Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community. This training walked me through writing a business plan. Kathleen Miller of the Maine Lighthouse Corporation encouraged me to attend a conference called “Substance Abuse: The Impact on Maine Women, Children and Families.” After attending this conference, we knew our home would need to accommodate not only women but their children as well.

Kathleen also connected us to the Maine Sea Coast Mission in Bar Harbor. Executive Director Gary DeLong has agreed to take The Woods under his administrative umbrella, meaning the Maine Sea Coast Mission will act as our fiscal agent until The Woods has established itself as a nonprofit service.

We are putting together the financial part of our business plan. We have contacted a company that builds modular solar homes, we have talked with contractors and carpenters who are willing to donate time to build the home, and we have been offered advice and ideas from many varied sources. For The Woods to become a reality, we need to have this kind of a collaborative effort.

We have the land for the home. We still need a site plan, an architect, a survey, and many other things. We also need the funds to pay for it all.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped us find the courage to take our vision and make it a reality.

Do we really want to take on such a huge responsibility? Yes. Are we thoroughly scared to death? Absolutely! But as we walk through the fear we are reminded that this is just like getting sober: we cannot do it alone. It is one day at a time, one step at a time.

Mary Henry has 20 years of continuous recovery. For more information or questions about The Woods, call Mary or David Henry at 667-6108 or e-mail them at krmds@adelphia.net. Donations can be mailed to The Maine Sea Coast Mission for The Woods, 127 West Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.

Please join our weekly conversation about Maine’s substance abuse problem. We welcome comments or questions from all perspectives. Letters may be mailed to Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04401. Send e-mail contributions to findingafix@bangordailynews.net. Column editor Meg Haskell may be reached at (207) 990-8291 or mhaskell@bangordailynews.net.