KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
A new sober living housing situation in town will offer a space for women in a Bed & Breakfast format. Ally Strong says she and her husband purchased a home in September with the goal of being able to provide sober living for women.
She says they will be able to house two to four women at one time and their criteria is flexible.
“It’s for women who are in transition or a space where they don’t have a safe and / or sober place to live. It could be somebody coming out of a bad relationship or just fell on hard times. It could be drugs and alcohol. Either / or. But it’s intended to be a supportive living environment.”
Strong says the goal is to help the women stay on track, find employment, support themselves, and become independent.
She says both she and her husband, who is a drug and alcohol counselor, are involved in K.A.M.P, or Kodiak Area Mentor Program, which is a faith-based group where volunteers mentor those with life issues like substance abuse.
Strong says she grew up watching her own family struggle.
“My parents were both addicts to some degree. It was a volatile environment. My sister became an addict at a very young age. She is still, 35 years later, an addict. Down in California, couch-surfing so to speak. And so, I’ve kinda watched that in my family. My sister lost all six of her children. They’ve all been adopted out many years ago.”
She says one of her and her husband’s goals for their lodgers would be to help them regain their children should that be part of their situation. She says rent would $25 a night with breakfast included and there would be house rules.
“They do have a curfew. Basically because I’m kinda the house mom, I don’t want to stay up till midnight worrying about them coming in or out. And in the case of drug and alcohol abuse, their lifestyles are kinda all over the place. And they’re in and out and wherever, and their time of day is different than the normal time of day. So, just to give them some structure and security.”
Strong describes other forms of guided independence.
“They have a private entrance and there’s a key on sight that stays on sight, so not everybody gets a key to come and go. They’ll have daily and weekly chores just to make sure that the house is being kept just like anybody would in their own home. Other than that, working with a mentor would be a requirement.”
She says the women could determine where that mentor comes from and who they are.
Strong says they’re calling the bed and breakfast Crossroads Sober Living for Women, and it’s only a small move towards helping people with drug recovery in Kodiak. She says there’s still a long way to go in providing rehabilitation facilities in town.
