Secretary of state’s drug and alcohol program visits Gaiser Center, Ellen’s House
Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Latika Davis-Jones visited the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center and Ellen’s House in Butler on Wednesday, Aug. 19, as a stop on her statewide tour of licensed recovery houses.
Davis-Jones and her staff spent about a half hour at the Gaiser Center, which opened 55 years ago, before going to Ellen’s House, which opened two years ago as a sober living home for women transitioning back to independent living following treatment in a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
She echoed Joseph Mahoney, Gaiser Center executive director, in saying people going through substance abuse recovery are just like everyone else and need the same kind of support that other people need.
“We often think about people with substance disorder that they’re different. But, in fact, they’re just like us, and they need support,” Davis-Jones said, during the tour of Ellen’s House.
Some of the support Ellen’s House residents receive — such as financial literacy education, budgeting and housing assistance — are the same kinds of support other people need, she said.
Among the things that makes Ellen’s House stand out among the 455 licensed recovery homes in the state is that it accepts mothers and their children. Many do not accept children.
“The fact that they get to bring their children to a recovery house is important,” Davis-Jones said.
Not allowing children to stay with their mothers is a barrier to recovery, Mahoney said.
Ellen’s House can accommodate 12 people, including children. Mothers can bring two children with them while they participate in recovery support groups, or have their children visit for a few days, manager Jenn Ramsey said.
Ramsey said it’s a great feeling when mothers that come to the house after being in treatment or jail see their children for the first time in months.
She led Davis-Jones on a tour of the house and took her to the third-floor attic, which the Butler AM Rotary Club converted last year into a family-friendly room with toys, games, a chalkboard and other things for children.
“This is a great space,” Davis-Jones said about the attic.
Mahoney recalled the first Christmas after the house opened.
“I remember a of couple moms coming through. They were going Christmas shopping for their kids, and to hear them talk about that experience. That was the first time they were able to to do that for many years,” Mahoney said. “They were excited.”
A former Ellen’s House resident, Heather Hissom, said she has been clean and sober for nine months.
“It was such a big help, and helped me to see different things that I needed to work on,” Hissom said.
She said her counselor guided her through recovery and back into a normal everyday life.
“I have full-time job, I have a bank account, I have credit — imagine that — and it helped me get back my relationship with my children,” Hissom said. “I do believe that everything the Gaiser gives you, especially when you get back out into the real world, it definitely helps you get into a better, safer way to live.”
