Hope Recovery Community expands recovery housing for women

MEDINA — With the purchase and renovation of a condo, Hope Recovery Community recently expanded the number of beds available for women in recovery by a few. Before the new recovery housing, there were only 12 beds for women in recovery in Medina County at OhioGuidestone's Discovery Recovery House in Medina. The Discovery Recovery House is a Level 3 recovery house, which is the highest level of recovery housing. The condo is Level 1, which is the least intensive level of recovery housing. Hope Recovery Community Executive Director Stefanie Robinson said it offers women more independence, while still providing them with structure, support and accountability. "Medina County has never had Level 1 women's recovery housing," Robinson said. "It's a nice place for women to extend their recovery housing options." Before the Level 1 recovery housing was established, Robinson said women would either stay at the Discovery Recovery House for much longer than they expected or they would have to leave Medina County, as they could find nowhere to live. The project's funding came from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation's 2024 Regional Grant Cycle. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is the entity entrusted by Ohio to receive 55 percent of the opiate settlement funds the state gets, OneOhio Executive Director Alisha Nelson said. OneOhio then partners with community organizations throughout the state, distributing funds to help its mission. In 2024, the OneOhio Recovery Foundation began accepting grant applications to help combat substance misuse by supporting prevention, treatment and recovery efforts. "We were able to fund 245 projects across the state, like Hope Recovery Community, for a total of about $45 million," Nelson said. Hope Recovery Community applied for the grant funding and was awarded two grants, receiving $120,0000 toward the expansion of community diversity program services and $151,000 toward a Level 1 housing expansion. Hope Recovery Community used the $151,000 to purchase a condo, Robinson said. Medina Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Skip Sipos helped as he held the condo as Hope Recovery Community awaited the funding confirmation. Once confirmed, renovations began and took about six months, Robinson said. The first two residents have since moved into the condo. For Robinson, having recovery housing within Medina County is important as community organizations already provide people with great recovery options like meetings, social activities and even Hope Recovery Community's Recovery Farm. But people also have to have stable, safe and secure housing. Robinson said they need more places in Medina County for people in recovery to go to. For women in recovery, there are 15 beds for recovery housing in Medina County. For men in recovery, there are about 45 to 50 beds total, which range across all three levels of recovery. Medina County Mental Health and Recovery Board Executive Director Phillip Titterington said they are working on having a multitude of different levels of recovery housing throughout the county. He has previously talked about the wait lists recovery housing has for both men and women. "We're always going to have a wait list, but that doesn't mean that we need to stop looking at providing additional resources," Titterington said. "If anything, it just continues to motivate us." Robinson said recovery housing provides people with the opportunity to have safe and secure housing within Medina County. "They're employed here. Their community is here," she said. "So, we want them to stay here." Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.