Formerly homeless addict opens sober transitional home for women
Jessica Robblee knows all about living on the streets and battling addiction. It was a life she lived firsthand for 10 years.
After five years of being clean through the help of services in Solano County, Robblee wanted to ensure that other women could have an avenue to transition out of the same things she experienced. Therefore, she purchased a house on Springvalley Drive and converted it into a women's transitional sober living home that she called Product of Grace. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour heralded the start of this new center Wednesday.
“I was able to recover here (in Solano County) and pick up my feet and make a difference here,” she said.
Robblee grew up in Mendocino County, initially living what she described as a “white-picket fence” life with a husband and children. However, things turned sour. She was physically abused by her spouse, she said, and decided to pack up a U-Haul and head to a trailer park in Shasta County.
“I was unaware that trailer parks had their own little communities, and I relapsed,” she said. “I had a lot of clean time at that time, and I started using and within weeks, CPS (Child Protective Services) showed up, the kids were gone, family members stopped talking to me, I lost my home and I ended up homeless in Shasta County in the dead of winter. I'd never been in the snow before.”
Robblee said she was riding a bike and met a man who wore a Vallejo hat. Not knowing exactly where Vallejo was, she asked him to take her there, and so began her odyssey in Solano.
The man she stayed with ended up getting arrested, leaving Robblee homeless once again.
“I tucked in and made friends where I thought I should and that led to me being arrested… countless times over that timeframe,” she said. “It's hard out here, especially for a female and one that's not from this county.”
Following her most recent arrest in October 2017, Robblee was connected with Bay Area Community Services, which qualified her to reside in a sober living environment. Along the way, she got support from Soroptimist International of Vacaville Twilight and began doing volunteer activities for Opportunity House. She was even able to get her own apartment in Vacaville. Her son joined the Army and she has joint custody over her 16-year-old daughter.
One of Robblee's goals was to start her own sober transitional home for women struggling with addiction. After working, raising enough money, enlisting her father and having furniture donated by Opportunity House, she purchased a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on Springvalley Drive to provide just that.
She named it Product of Grace as a result of strengthening her faith through the 12 Step process.
“I came to the realization that I am a real product of grace,” she said. “Had I not been given grace through all the struggles that I've gone through, then I don't know if I'd be where I'm at today.”
One of the main features is the “group room,” which has books, games, space for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and 12-week, 2.5hour sessions of what Robblee calls “the healing journey.” There are also computers with individual log-ins for residents and a family tree wall where women can put up phots of their family members.
“We want it to be as homey as possible,” she said.
The house can serve up to six women, and each bedroom has its own theme with a written explanation of said theme by Robblee posted on the doors. The Purple Room is named for Robblee's kids' favorite color and features a purple wall, rug and drapes. This room is intended to be more of a family room and even features plushies and toys.
“Although the house isn't set up to house children, the women here have a safe place to have their children in the daytime and the kids can stay the night on Fri/ Sat,” Robblee wrote.
The Cheetah Room was specifically established for plus-size women with beds that can hold up to 500 pounds and a master bathroom that can accommodate plus-size needs. The room “represents that all women no matter their size need to feel comfortable and safe as well,” Robblee wrote.
The Butterfly Room “represents the opportunity for transformation” and naturally features images of the colorful winged insects but also bicycles. This, Robblee told The Reporter, also has significance to her.
“The sober living that I had lived in, I had gone through a lot of trauma and stuff, and the lady had let me carry around all my bicycles,” she said. “Three years into my recovery, it was like, `You have 50 bikes out in the yard. It's time to get rid of them.”
Robblee donated her bikes to Opportunity House and Savers. In exchange, she received a pair of paintings of bikes with the phrases “Escape the ordinary” and “Embrace the detours.”
All rooms are equipped with Amazon Echos that residents can use to set alarms or listen to music.
Among the services Robblee hopes to provide through Product of Grace are trauma groups, family reunification and recovery support. She hopes all residents will take away selfconfidence, empowerment, the ability to stay clean and reunify with families.
Robblee hopes to have residents stay for up to a year, but they can stay longer if needed.
“Hopefully, by then, (we will have) shown them and taught them what they should be able to do and have some faith in themselves and the process,” she said. “They could either go to the transitional space or hopefully they'll get their own place.”