Centerstone: New recovery home to open on north side

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Centerstone is preparing to open a recovery home on the north side of Columbus later this month for men seeking help for substance use disorders, the latest in a series of efforts in the Columbus community to provide housing for those in treatment.

The 4,519-square-foot facility, located at 1680 Whitney Court, can house up to 12 men and is expected to have its first residents by Aug. 17, said Jennifer Fillmore, director of substance abuse disorder residential and specialized services at Centerstone.

The facility will employ recovery coaches, therapists and an overnight house monitor, Fillmore said. Centerstone plans to hold virtual open houses on Aug. 13 and 14 that include virtual tours and a discussion on what kinds of services will be offered at the facility.

The building is located in the Columbus AirPark, a development area around the Columbus Municipal Airport. Centerstone of Indiana purchased the property for $250,000 on Dec. 20, 2017. Centerstone also has a facility in Columbus at 720 N. Marr Road.

“(The new facility) is a longer-term recovery house so individuals can stay there for really up to six months,” Fillmore said. “…If people need medication-assisted treatment, they can receive that at the house. Most of the individuals that are there will go through a full assessment to see what kind of treatment services they need. The majority of our clients will go through our intensive outpatient treatment program.”

Earlier this week, Centerstone also announced that it had received a four-year, $3.4 million federal grant to expand evidence-based treatments and build relationships within a nine-county region of Indiana that has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic, including Bartholomew County.

The grant, called the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Center grant, provides funding from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to create a network to expand treatment opportunities for individuals suffering from substance use disorder and increase collaboration with other providers in the community, among other things, Fillmore said.

As part of the grant, Centerstone plans to treat at least 400 people struggling with some kind of opioid abuse disorder over the four years and track the outcomes of their treatment, Fillmore said.

Centerstone plans to convene a work group of stakeholders in the community to look at the full continuum of care in Bartholomew County and any potential gaps in the nine-county region, Fillmore said.

“It allows us the opportunity to improve and enhance what we’re doing,” Fillmore said. “We’re not building a new facility. We’re not going to create some type of treatment that’s already in the community or that’s duplicative or is not needed.”

The push for recovery housing and expanded treatment options in the community has picked up steam this year, with several recovery housing and sober living transitional homes opening, or in the works.

It also comes as local officials attempt to counter a rise in fatal drug overdoses in the community and a surge in relapses. There had been 20 fatal drug overdoses in Bartholomew County as of June 29, compared to a total of 24 all of last year, according to figures from the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.

In January, ASAP officials said the lack of available recovery housing in Bartholomew County was a significant gap in the county-wide effort to help people overcome substance use disorder.

Before this year, the closest recovery housing for Bartholomew County women was in Monroe County, and the closest recovery housing for men was in Jennings County, ASAP officials said.

“We’re feel we’re a significant turn on that (gap),” said ASAP Program Manager Cheryl Buffo. “There are several things coming online and at many different levels of care. …All of a sudden, we’re seeing a lot of movement, so we’re really happy about that.”

ASAP is preparing to open its first sober living transitional home for those who have completed a substance abuse program to have build a support network, and to establish job and financial stability amid a structured environment while in the initial stages of recovery.

The house is ready to go and ASAP is accepting applicants, but are still looking to hire a house manager, Buffo said. The house’s maximum capacity is nine, but only around four people will be accepted at first, or one person per room, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

In February, a former church parsonage in Columbus transformed into recovery home for men opened. The facility, called the Chain Breaker House, 1218 California St., can house up to six men who are in treatment with alcohol or drug abuse issues and has two bedrooms, study areas, a kitchen, living room and finished basement, organizers said.

Other homes also being planned, including the Fresh Start Recovery Center, an addiction treatment facility for expectant women and mothers at 703 Washington St., which is expected to open later this year, Buffo said.

“We have this system that now all of the pieces are coming into place and the one missing piece was housing,” Buffo said. “All the pieces are necessary to keep the system working right.”