Women waiting for addiction treatment get help at house

Founder of Xenia site: Her Story home is first to fill key gap in Ohio.

Women looking for treatment to drug or alcohol addiction have a new option in Xenia with Her Story, a nonprofit organization that provides housing for those waiting to get into recovery.

Three women are currently residing in the home, which was opened in late August, and calls are coming in daily, according to Her Story’s founder and president, Whitney Caudill, formerly an investigator with children services.

Caudill said she saw the need first-hand while working for children’s services, seeing mothers with addictions wanting help but having to wait 30 or more days before a treatment facility can take them in.

Caudill said if someone isn’t there to provide help, those addicted are not going to wait a month to get the help they need.

“The gap that we are filling is the first house in the state of Ohio doing what we’re doing,” Caudill said. “The need is overwhelming. We need hundreds of these houses.”

Her Story is open to anyone in the Miami Valley area with certain qualifications: You must be a woman 18 or older; homeless or in an unstable living environment; medically and mentally stable; not currently a primary caregiver for any children; no violent or sexually-oriented criminal convictions; actively addicted and willing to seek help; and willing to recover in a community.

Caudill said they provide supervision 24/7 and have partnered with a local hospital to provide assistance when someone is in detox. Residents are connected with intensive outpatient services through TCN Behavioral Health Services or Columbus-based Freedom Recovery, which is providing services at Safe Harbor in Springfield.

Caudill said someone going through detox is not always as scary as some may think.

“For the most part they’re just tired. They just kind of sleep it off. They wake up and eat, and we connect them with outpatient services,” she said. “It’s not as dramatic as most people think.”

Her Story Vice President Brandy Gleason, a recovering addict herself, said most of the women getting help through their organization so far have come from Montgomery County.

Gleason said they are accepting donations and applying for grants. More funding will enable them to acquire a second house, but getting support from the public is what is needed most.

“It’s really work as a community to help these women. We just provide a safe place to do it,” she said.

For more information, contact Her Story at (937) 736-0720.