Centerstone will open a recovery house in Columbus next week for men struggling with substance use disorder, with the first residents expected to move into the facility beginning Monday.
The 4,519-square-foot facility, called Columbus-Centerstone Recovery Transitional House at 1680 Whitney Court, will house up to 12 men. It will provide a range of individualized treatments and services, including medication-assisted treatment, according to officials from the Tennessee-based not-for-profit health system, who spoke to more than 20 people during a virtual open house held via Zoom on Thursday.
Residents can typically stay at the house for up to six months, but the average length of stay at similar Centerstone facilities is around four months, Centerstone officials said.
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.
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“It’s been a long time to get here, but we’re here,” said Suzanne Koesel, Centerstone’s regional chief executive officer in Indiana, during the open house. “We’re finally opening our facility in Columbus and we are so excited about that.”
Treatment and staff
The recovery house includes a living room, kitchen, two group rooms, laundry facilities, four bathrooms, outdoor picnic tables and basketball court and six bedrooms for residents, each with a maximum capacity of two men. Two of the bedrooms showcased by Centerstone officials on Thursday had wood-style floors, windows, end tables, dressers and light beige and blue-colored walls.
Staff will be on-site 16 hours per day starting at 8 a.m., plus an overnight monitor who lives at the house, who serves as a mentor for the residents and keeps tabs on them at night, Centerstone officials said. There is an additional bedroom for the overnight monitor.
“(Overnight monitors) keep an eye out and just observe odd behaviors,” said Courtney Pence, manager of residential substance use disorder programming at Centerstone, during the open house. “They observe how the guys get along or if someone is having trouble sleeping. They are just there to be available should something happen when all staff have gone home for the night.”
While living at the facility, residents will participate in a virtual intensive outpatient treatment program for nine hours per week from the house’s conference room, Pence said.
Additionally, residents will meet on-site with a recovery coach for at least 90 minutes per week and see a therapist and a psychiatrist at least once per month as needed, Pence said.
COVID-19 measures
Centerstone officials are taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the new recovery house in Columbus, and will gradually phase in the number of residents.
Staff will have masks, goggles and face shields, and all staff will be screened for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 every morning, including temperature checks and a questionnaire on their symptoms, Pence said.
In addition, residents will be screened for COVID-19 before moving in.
“We’re not going to move all 12 people in next week,” Pence said. “We’re going to bring three people in next week and then probably two or three people in the next week. We’re only going to bring in about three people each week until we’re full just so we’re doing it cautiously.”
The opening of the recovery house 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.
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, said ASAP Program Manager Cheryl Buffo in a previous interview. 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.
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Visit centerstone.org for more information. Inquiries about the new recovery house in Columbus can be emailed to [email protected].
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