By DONNA THORNTON, Editor
House of Hope Women’s Recovery Facility — which has assisted women in reclaiming their lives from addiction for almost two decades — hosted a pair of celebrations recently.
The first was a ribbon-cutting April 9, marking the facility’s joining the Albertville Chamber of Commerce, and the second was a grand re-opening April 11 of the residential recovery center at its location in Kilpatrick, with guests including Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.
House of Hope Director Kim Kilpatrick said it might seem odd to celebrate a 19th anniversary with the re-opening, but it felt like the right time. The house certainly has something to celebrate.
Kilpatrick said it received grant money from the state’s portion of the settlement of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers. It enabled the facility to install a new septic system and to build an additional bedroom for clients.
Unless someone you love has been touched by addiction, you might not know about House of Hope. Kilpatrick said she wanted to develop some kind of recovery program for women because there was no such program in the area 20 years ago.
Her mother — who has counseled a number of parents of adult children facing addiction — told her to pray about it, and soon Kilpatrick was able to rent a house in the Alder Springs area for the program. She said there was really no celebration of that opening, or the move two years later to the current location because attempts to locate a local recovery center for men met with a lot of opposition.
House of Hope stayed low-key and focused on its mission.
“Our goal is to give them the living skills and recovery tools to carry outside here,” Kilpatrick said.
“This is the easy part,” she said, of the time spent at the facility.
She and assistant director Stacia Garner want to see their clients be able to cope outside. Both know the struggles their clients face; Garner is a graduate of House of Hope’s program and Kilpatrick is herself in recovery.
At House of Hope, women who’ve walked this road themselves offer help with the intricacies of getting a life back on track — help getting paperwork needed to get jobs, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards. The facility has parenting classes, grief support, and anger management classes. Those classes, along with self-help meetings, are a key part of helping women to recover.
Women are required to have jobs, Kilpatrick said, and transportation is provided for them to get to work.
She said most of the women work together at a nearby plant, allowing them to provide support for one another in the workplace — one of those “outside” areas that can challenge them.
“We let the children visit here every Sunday. It helps the kids to see where their moms are and to meet the other women,” Kilpatrick said. “Most of my women come here from jail — probably 97% of them.”
Having a place to go often helps women to get released from jail.
“Our Marshall County (officials) are amazing,” she said. “They are super-supportive of recovery.” While she collaborates mostly with Marshall, DeKalb and Jackson counties, Kilpatrick said she has worked with most of the counties in the state.
“I’d rather have local women,” she said, because House of Hope can serve them best in an environment where they can visit with their children and where they can work — and work toward recovery — in a community they will return to.
“That way they can keep their job, they have a new support group,” she said, and have families close. After 60 days in the program, she said, they can leave on passes.
While it was great to have visitors like the attorney general at its special events, the most special guests were the women who’ve graduated from the program and returned to celebrate with Kilpatrick and Garner.
Kilpatrick noted some attending with their children — children they couldn’t be with while abusing substances. As they recovered, they were able to get their children back and reestablish their families.
“We’re real big on the kids,” she said. This year, Easter weekend was not a ‘pass’weekend for clients. “We did an Easter egg hunt here,” she said. “We had kids and grandkids running around everywhere Sunday.”
In addition to clients who come from jail, Kilpatrick said there are some women on parole in the program. She said she’s written letters for women who are coming up for parole. “If they make it, we’ll find somewhere to put them,” she said.
Prior to the added bedroom, House of Hope had room for 12; now it can accommodate 18. In addition to the main house, there’s a trailer next door that serves as a transitional facility for women who’ve been through the program but need more time. It can house six women.
ROSS of Marshall County assists with women who need detox, she said. Lake Guntersville Dentistry has helped with another need. Substance abuse leads to issues with teeth; the dentist office has treated several clients with dental issues.
Substance abuse charges lead to a loss of driver’s licenses, Kilpatrick said. House of Hope works to help women get them renewed.
There are costs for the recovery program at House of Hope. There is a $500 fee upfront. “Nobody ever has it to come,” Kilpatrick said. “But to me, that’s putting a price tag on a human life. I’ve learned that God’s going to provide no matter what.”
When people enter the program, it typically takes time to get ID, birth certificates and all that’s needed to get a job.
“Sometimes you’re looking at close to two months to get them work ready,” she said. Then the program charge is $200 a week, for housing, meals and transportation, as well as classes.
Kilpatrick is excited to be taking a group of 20 to a recovery event at Panama City. “It’s so cool to see their faces when they see that ocean,” she said.
During the ribbon-cutting, there were tours of the facility, including the new room.
Kilpatrick said they’ve been blessed with a number of donated services. A lot of trees had to come down at the rural setting; people donated tree services, and when the new room was constructed, she said, the contractor asked if they’d like a covered porch.
She said sure, because a lot of clients are smokers (as is she), but she was concerned about the cost.
Kilpatrick later learned the contractor and his wife covered the cost of the porch themselves.
Albertville Chamber of Commerce President Stan Witherow noted that almost every family has been touched by addiction.
But 19 years ago, Kilpatrick said, it was not acknowleged. “It was just a family secret.
“I was blessed to have great family support when I was in recovery. A lot of people don’t have that,” she said.
House of Hope Director Kim Kilpatrick shows guests the newly added room at the residential women’s recovery facility. Photo by DONNA THORNTON l The Leader
