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Friday, February 23, 2007
Women’s Addiction Recovery Manor Director Named
By Judy Jenkins
The Gleaner staff
About four months away from its anticipated opening,
the local Women's Addiction Recovery Manor looms large on the skyline off outer Second Street and as of Monday has an
executive director.
The Rev. Ed Bradley and local civic leader Dale
Sights, two of the facility's organizers, introduced WARM Director
Sharice
Benson to members of the Henderson Rotary Club Thursday and told them that
Benson "is extremely qualified to do this job."
Benson, who is
celebrating her 42nd birthday today, is an Indianapolis native who has
lived in this area since 1991. She
has an extensive background as a certified alcohol/drug abuse counselor and
previously has worked at the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center and the Evansville Treatment
Center. She also has been a child protection
worker. She and her husband David, a state vocational
rehabilitation counselor, reside in
Henderson. Benson says she believes women have been
largely overlooked in substance abuse treatment, and she is looking forward to
working with them and to addressing their "specific needs.”
She will oversee a staff of 12.
The
sprawling WARM inpatient facility is located on 4.36 acres donated
by Dr. and Mrs. Tom Logan off North McKinley Street and will have 100
beds for women with various substance addictions -- including meth -- and the often related problem of homelessness.
When ground was
broken April 12 for the $3.28 million center, Gov. Ernie Fletcher noted that it
is the first of multiple substance abuse recovery centers to be built around the
state through his "Recovery Kentucky" initiative to help Kentuckians recover
from substance abuse and rebuild their lives.
Bradley, who was instrumental in the creation of the local Women's
Emergency Shelter, said Thursday that the head of the Kentucky
Housing Corp. had encouraged him to apply for a treatment center
here. The application was submitted by the
Women's Emergency Shelter board.
The
Holy Name priest said earlier town hall meetings led by Fletcher had
indicated substance abuse is the number one problem in virtually
every Kentucky
community and that led to the Recovery Kentucky mission that seeks
at least 10 of the centers -- half for men and half for women -- in
the Commonwealth.
Sights, who told Rotarians that he is a recovering alcoholic who
successfully underwent treatment in Minnesota 20 years ago, pointed
out that substance abuse is responsible for "probably 75 percent" of
incarcerations and divorces.
It is, he said, at "epidemic levels" though he doesn't believe Henderson County has more addicts than other
communities of similar size.
The
Women’s Addiction Recovery Manor still has about four months before
its anticipated opening.
The $3.28 million, 100 bed facility is still under construction off
of outer Second Street.
He
does, however, believe that there is more focus here because "Henderson
is a major recovery community."
A
third of WARM's beds will be utilized by
the Kentucky Department of Corrections and it's anticipated that
women's stays will extend from about eight months to two years. Sights said the facility, funded through
complex layers of state and federal money, will utilize a proven
recovery model that includes peer support, daily living skills,
training, job responsibilities, and challenges to practice sober
living. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be a key
component, said Sights, who chairs the WARM board of directors.
He added there are at least 30 AA meetings here each week.
The
facility will not have a medical detoxification unit, he said, but
it is hoped that component can be added in the future. Sights
said WARM will have many needs and will count on churches,
organizations, and individuals to help provide those needs,
including donated clothing and food.
In
response to a Thursday Gleaner Opinion Page letter that questioned
whether the center is located in a flood plain, Bradley said it is
not and that precautions have been taken to assure that the facility
stays untouched by the nearby creek. "The Kentucky Housing
Corporation would not have approved the site" if it were in danger
of flooding, he said.
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