Drug abuse fight leads to calls for sober housing

Efforts to fight the drug abuse epidemic in Columbus and Bartholomew County will include finding places for those in recovery to live after their treatment program.

Doug Leonard, head of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County recently explained that recovery homes will be a priority for the group this year.

Leonard said that right now there are no such homes in the community. By late this year, ASAP hopes to have four or five recovery homes available in the community.

The homes, also known as sober homes, are meant to provide a stable place for recovering addicts to live as they re-enter the workforce and the community while maintaining their sobriety.

That need falls under larger umbrella of other types of housing that the community is lacking, Leonard said.

ASAP and other agencies have been working with a group of about 35 interested parties, including a local landlord and outside groups who wish to create such homes. The working group is using grant money to pay a consultant called Ascension Sober Homes.

You can hear more from our interview with Doug Leonard here.