In Her Words will be a series of interviews with Healing Housing residents and graduates to give supporters and friends a deeper insight into experience of addiction and recovery. Names are always changed to protect a woman’s privacy.
We recently spoke with Rosie, a new resident at Healing Housing, about her experiences coming into the program.
Healing Housing is truly, in my personal opinion, one of a kind. I have never seen a sober living/halfway house that offers the services and resources that they do here. They are one of a kind. I love the staff here, I love the people running it, I’ve met one of the founders—the community that supports Healing Housing is amazing because Healing Housing is amazing.
Rosie, 2022 Resident
What prompted you to seek Healing Housing?
When I was in Williamson Country Drug Court, I was required to go to IOP (Intensive OutPatient), and in IOP I met some girls that were staying in Healing Housing. They talked about how much they love the program and how good it was. I would take them back and forth from Healing Housing to IOP and each time got to know a little bit about the program. Then when I was getting out of rehab and needing somewhere to go, I knew Healing Housing was where I wanted to go.
What were some of the initial steps HH asked that you take?
I had to do an application online, an interview on the phone, and tell them about where I was at, what led me there, what my future plans are, and what I would like to get out of Healing Housing.
Were there any services that HH offered to you in the beginning that were especially helpful?
Absolutely. They bought my groceries. They provided me with shampoo, conditioner, some clothes, towels, some hygiene products that I needed, food, gift cards to get other things I needed that they didn’t have at the store, and trolley tickets to ride the trolley. They offered me rides to my doctors’ appointments; I was able to manage that on my own, but had I not been able to that would have been extremely helpful too. The case management and, along with the case management, the one-on-one time that I needed to learn about the program.
What are you most looking forward to in the future?
Working in recovery.
Has Healing Housing shaped your desire to do that?
I wanted to work in recovery before I got here, but I will say that they have helped inform me on how to make that happen and have supported that decision completely.
