SOUTH BEND — There’s a new addiction recovery home for women opening in South Bend. The Upper Room Recovery home plans to open in May.

The non-profit will house up to 16 women with addiction.

Until now it’s been housed in the First United Methodist Church on North Main Street. Now it’s moving next door.

Women first have to prove that they’ve been sober for a minimum of 30 days. Then they take you in and help you on your path toward sober living.

After between 30 to 60 days, they expect women to have a job in the community.

Women pay about $400 a month to stay there. The average stay for women in the recovery home is between nine months to a year.

Success rates are a hard thing to quantify.

But Assistant Director Linda Jung-Zimmerman says that transitional housing, like the recovery home, boosts success rates in a variety of ways. Including consistent employment, family relationships, social relationships and income level.

“It’s really taking a holistic approach. So not only healing the body, but also focusing on mentally, spiritually, working on nutrition and cooking and to really have a healthy lifestyle all around,” said Jung-Zimmerman.

A donor who is part of the First United Methodist Church community gifted the building. They now have to renovate it before an expected May opening.

The women’s home is also in the middle of a Capital Campaign. So far, the group has raised about $71,000 of the $160,000 goal.

Jim Hendricks, the building manager for the Methodist Church next door, says a place like this for women is long overdue.

“I’m really looking forward to getting a women’s recovery home going. It’s desperately needed in our area. And I saw what a good job it’s helped so many man over there. It’d be great to be involved with this,” said Hendricks.

Hendricks has been working with Upper Room Recovery since 2015. He stresses that community involvement is crucial to helping the new home establish a good footprint in the area.

From the day people arrive at the home, the goal is to start living independently.

The home will require that all women take NA or AA meetings.

If you’d like to volunteer or contribute money for the Capital Campaign, click here.

Source: WSBT