It is nearly impossible for someone not struggling with an addiction to understand how fierce that hold can be. Pamela Coffey, executive director and founder of Healthy House for Women in Kalamazoo understands. A recovering addict of 32 years herself, Coffey gets it. She understands what it takes to be successful and once she had achieved that milestone, she knew she wanted to help other women achieve sobriety as well.
“My personal experience—I am a recovering addict. I have 32 years clean,” she says. “When I left treatment, my first sponsor said, you shouldn’t go back to living where you are living now. So I rented a room from a woman in the recovery world.”
The impact of that move, a move that removed Coffey from her world of addiction, she came to realize was crucial in her recovery. Years later, that realization would lead to her founding Healthy House for Women. Healthy House is the only women's recovery program in the Kalamazoo area that offers a long-term housing solution where women can stay until they find safe, supportive housing, regardless of their ability to pay.
“When a person goes through a 28-day treatment program, and then you are released—where do you go back to?” Coffey asks. “If the only place you have to go back to is the place where you used to get high, your chances are very slim of staying clean and sober. Offering people a safe place, another environment—because 28 days after 20 years of using every day is not going to cure you.”
Residents may stay up to two years rent free at Healthy House while finding jobs, participating in group sessions, learning about finances and home ownership, and other life skills.
Healthy House, a 501(c) (3) organization, officially open in 2015, now offers a safe, sober, structured, and nurturing environment, case management services, supportive services, basic life-skills training, employment support, trauma and cultural education, domestic abuse prevention, and empowerment training to residents. Healthy House can house up to eight residents and has served well over a hundred women since it opened its doors. Coffey hopes to open a second location soon.
Call 269-743-7417 or email info@healthyhouseforwomen.org for more information.
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