New drug facility is open
BUTLER TWP — Linda Franiewski saw a need for women to have their own drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
So Franiewski, the executive director of The Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Addiction Center, and her staff in 2015 began working on creating a facility specifically for women. The idea was to help women not only get treatment for addiction but also to reconnect with their families.
Their efforts came to fruition Friday at the new center on Old Plank Road in Butler Township, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the women's facility.
“We've watched women struggle and have many barriers to treatment including children, families, stigma, and disproportionately getting into treatment,” Franiewski said. “We wanted to give them a welcoming and try to meet some of their needs.”
The two-story building includes 12 bedrooms for people receiving treatment, as well as bathrooms, therapy and recreational rooms, a kitchen, dining and living areas, and office space for staff.
Gaiser also plans to turn one of the rooms into an exercise space.
There are both one-person and two-person bedrooms. As of Friday, there were 10 women receiving treatment at the new facility.
The women's center has two therapists, one full-time and one part-time, who can work with up to eight people each. Facilities manager and residential aid coordinator Becky Petsinger said Gaiser is in the process of hiring another full-time therapist for the facility.
She also said that, after an initial adjustment period, the transition has benefited both the men and women receiving treatment.
“It has really settled down,” Petsinger said. “The men have come together more, they have been engaged with sports, and the women have come together as well.”
Men still receive treatment in the building adjacent to the women's facility. Petsinger said the goal of the new facility is to eliminate distractions for both men and women.
“Treatment is hard enough as it is,” she said.
The new facility opened Aug. 1. Franiewski said Gaiser has made the center “trauma-informed,” because many of their clients have been through trauma and various levels of abuse.
“We've tailored our programs individually to understand that certain behaviors may be as a result of trauma,” Franiewski said.
Another goal, Petsinger said, is to work to bring clients together with their families.
“That's a big fracture that they have, and their addiction really pulls families apart,” Petsinger said. “So we want to work with other agencies and try to mend those (issues).”
Gaiser Center board member Jerry Miller spoke at the ceremony, and noted that 74 people died of a drug overdose in Butler County in 2016.
“As you all know, the need (for treatment) has not gone away,” Miller said. “If anything, it has increased.”
Petsinger commended the community for its support of Gaiser's efforts.
“I'm just really grateful for the community standing behind us to make this happen, because it's definitely something that's needed,” she said.
“Not just for the women, but for families and the community at large.”
