PORT CLINTON - Before the coronavirus shuttered life in Northwest Ohio, Light House Sober Living was taking big steps into a future full of greater opportunities to serve locals fighting addiction.
The women’s house had recently undergone renovations, and the organization was getting closer to opening a men’s home in Sandusky. But then the pandemic hit, and like many nonprofits, Light House is now focusing on maneuvering through a temporary new normal. Most importantly, it is working to help the men and women who live in Light House’s homes stay clean when so many sobriety resources are unavailable.
Light House Sober Living operates two sober living homes in Port Clinton, one for men and one for women. The organization’s executive director, Kenn Bower, Jr., said Light House was established when Ottawa County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Winters recognized a need for sober living homes in the county.
“Judge Winters identified a huge need for people to live and begin their recovery journey,” Bower said. “He had different ways to address the problem — prison, jail, treatment — but if a person doesn’t have a safe place to live, and they are going right back where they came from, then all of that is pointless.”
Because there was a greater need for a men’s house, it was established first.
“But it was always our goal to circle back and establish a recovery house for women. We know addiction doesn’t discriminate based on age, race, or gender,” Bower said.
With the help of concerned community members and Leadership Ottawa County, the women’s house opened as a seven-bed recovery house in September, 2018. Leadership Ottawa County’s efforts helped raise more than enough funds to establish the house, and excess funds were used on renovations that were completed in February by Realty Star LLC in Port Clinton.
“With the help of Leadership Ottawa County, we actually surpassed our fundraising goal. That money was designated for the women’s house, so we made sure the extra money was used for it,” Bower said.
The additional funds were used to renovate the home’s garage, which had been used for storage, into an extra bedroom as well as office space for the women’s house manager and Light House’s treasurer. Now, with the men’s 15-bedroom home, Bower said Light House is in a place to meet level two recovery housing needs in the county.
“For a level two, residents need to be at a certain place in their recovery. It’s not that we want to set the bar too high, but they need to be self-driven and motivated for Light House to work for them,” Bower said. “We are able to meet that need right now.”
However, Light House also serves the recovery population in Erie County, where the need for recovery housing is much greater within the City of Sandusky. Bower said Light House wants to open a men’s home there and identified two houses that would meet the organization’s needs, but both options fell through. Light House was continuing its search for a house in Sandusky when coronavirus concerns hindered the process.
“The house was going to open using primarily state funds. The coronavirus hit, and I’m not sure when we can continue. Most of those funds were probably reappropriated to fighting the virus,’ he said.
For the time being, Light House is focusing on helping its residents fight to stay sober. Many of the resources they would normally utilize, such as support groups and face-to-face counseling services, are unavailable right now. The drugs, however, are accessible as ever.
“We are fighting hard, and so are our residents,” Bower said. “Everything is shut down, but the dealer is still doing his thing.”
Financial donations to Light House Sober Living are welcome, and so are toilet paper and cleaning supplies like disinfectant spray and hand sanitizer. Store purchase limits have made it difficult to buy enough for the many people living in the homes.
Financial donations can be mailed to Light House Sober Living, P.O. Box 24, Port Clinton, OH 43452, For more information, contact Light House at lighthousesoberliving@gmail.com or 419-967-9550.
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
"light" - Google News
May 12, 2020 at 05:09PM
https://ift.tt/2zsgFrs
Meet Your Neighbor: Light House Sober Living completes renovations - The News-Messenger
"light" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Wm8QLw
https://ift.tt/2Stbv5k
Bagikan Berita Ini
I like your post. It is good to see you verbalize from the heart and clarity on this important subject can be easily observed... Women's sober living
ReplyDeletePretty good I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info. Women's sober living
ReplyDeleteSober living colorado Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our.
ReplyDelete