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Recovery Home Offers Shelter From Addictions

Recovery home is a lesson in turning to others, instead of alcohol or drugs to solve problems

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: September 28, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL - NEW PORT RICHEY, FL - It might have been a mere discussion in which housemates work out some minor problems about letting dirty dishes pile up too long.

But to the six residents in a New Port Richey STEPS to Recovery home it was a lesson in turning to others, instead of alcohol or drugs, to work on problems.

The home is one of two residences in New Port Richey operated by STEPS to Recovery, a nonprofit organization that runs transitional residences with programs for people in recovery. Such residences bridge the gap between detoxification and permanent housing.

The process of recovery has been highlighted in September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, substance abuse affects all levels of society, every ethnic group and both genders.

The high incidence of substance abuse takes its toll on society. There are more deaths and disabilities each year in this country from substance abuse than from any other cause, according to the council. One-fourth of all emergency room admissions, one-third of suicides and more than half of all homicides and domestic violence issues are alcohol related.

Expressing feelings, even about matters seemingly as small as housemates who are slouches in the dishwashing department, is important, says Marilyn Englert, one of the founders of STEPS.

Anger builds
"Addicts love to stuff things," she explains. "If they have an issue, they stuff it. Then the anger builds. Then they go to their friend – the bottle or drugs."

Did STEPS residents resolve the issues about the dishes?
"This week will tell," Englert says in the cautious tone of someone who has learned the road to recovery has its potholes.

Englert grew up with alcoholism in her family. She works as a substance abuse and rehabilitation counselor during the day. She spends time after work and on weekends at the homes counseling residents and doing paperwork for residents.

She is also a registered nurse. In that capacity, she gives random urine tests to the residents. They are told from the beginning they will be subject to such tests.

Englert came to Pasco County in 1998 after having worked with homeless people in recovery in Buffalo, N.Y.

"There wasn't much here," she said about the area's services to recovering substance abusers. "I kept waiting to see if people would develop something."

Did it themselves
When they didn't, she and three colleagues did it themselves, opening the first rented home in 2006 and another one this year.

Residents are responsible for their own food. Those who work chip in one-third of their salary, but many without jobs cannot afford to pay anything, Englert notes.

About half of their residents come from Pinellas County, she says, because the demand there for residences like STEPS is also great.

The homes are in safe, middle-class neighborhoods that are near public transportation.

"For the most part, I don't think the neighbors know," Englert, notes, referring to the purpose of the homes.

Each home has three bedrooms and can hold as many as six occupants.

All homes are for men only. Why men? She wanted to draw on her experience of working exclusively with men for almost 30 years, Englert says.

Homey houses
Englert and her colleagues made the houses homey, like the homes people actually live in.

"A lot of times, houses are institutional. That's why we stick to little houses. They're more like real life."

Only one other co-founder is still active in the homes.
He prefers to remain anonymous. Even though he is now clean, he fears the public stigma of a past with substance abuse.
To live in the house, residences must attend either Alcoholic Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings daily, and work with a sponsor from these groups.

They must also have been either clean or sober for 30 days or have just come out of a treatment program.

Additional requirements include participating in weekly processing and discussion sessions.

"Addicts love to isolate themselves," says Englert. "Here, they have to go to a meeting daily. They get to practice sharing feelings, expressing thoughts and bouncing them off others."

Residents' decisions
The other residents of the home have a say in determining who lives in the houses.

Englert invites potential residents to breakfast both so that they can get a feel for life at the house and for the residents to assess them.

If they decide the newcomer is serious about the recovery process, they invite him to live there for a week so that both sides can determine if it is a comfortable fit.

The decision is as important to the residents as to the newcomers.

"They want to be very careful because their sobriety is on the line," Englert notes. "On the other hand, they've been there. They want to help."

That gives them a chance to practice the last part of the recovery process, helping others, she says.

STEPS get its residents from a variety of ways. Some are referred through community agencies.

STEPS also takes the homeless and people who have been kicked out by their families.

Fees, funding support
Along with fees from residents who work, other funds come from Pasco County through the public defender's office. That office sends suitable offenders with substance abuse problems to STEPS.

But, Englert notes, she often dips into her own pocket to keep the operation going.

It all becomes worthwhile, she says, when she sees the results in residents like Brendan.

Brendan has lived at the house for three months. "It had gotten to the point where no one ever wanted me around. They'd run from me," he recalls.

"This house has saved my life. It's the first time in my life when I ever put 100 percent into everything."

Another resident, Skip, is at first reluctant to talk about life in the house, but his passion for STEPS outweighs any concerns for privacy.

He is one of the residents who feed four stray cats. "When I open the door at 5:30 in the morning, they're sitting there."

Accepting responsibility
The cats help in recovery, says Englert, coaxing responsibility out of those who have previously been unwilling to accept it.

"It's not just STEPS to Recovery," Skip says. "It's steps to getting our lives back and into the community."

STEPS to Recovery could use help in setting up a Web site, typing, minor house repairs and gardening.

To volunteer or for more information on STEPS, call 727-505-5528.

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