Spring Break
Recovery House assists local homeless, alcoholics
Non-profit house helps residents through recovery, job hunt using 6-month program
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News
"We don't just take any homeless person," Mason said. "They have to have a drug and alcohol problem."
Mason said a desire to be sober is enough to gain entrance at New Way.
The house admitted a homeless man from Ann Arbor. Mason said the freezing Michigan weather made the man's sleeping bag too cold and he could no longer move his legs.
"We were the only ones who would take someone without money," he said.
He said most of the residents come from somewhere other than Hillsdale.
"A lot of times they can't go back to where they came from," he said, and returning to a familiar environment often leads to a return to familiar habits.
"So they come to a place like this in the middle of nowhere."
New Way has a six-month program based on AA's 12 steps. Though Mason and his staff encourage the residents to remain for the entire six months, they are not required to stay.
"They start to feel better and decide they want to go out on their own," he said about those who leave before the six months are up. He added that it's common for those who don't complete the program to fall back into alcoholism.
He said because New Way is a non-profit organization, the Masons pay for whatever costs they can't cover with the residents' rent payments, though occasionally they receive a donation. Eventually, Mason said, he'd like to see the place pay for itself.
In its two years of existence, Mason said he's proud of what's been accomplished.
"Evidently it's working," he said. Some of the people who stayed there when New Way had just begun are still sober, and if they help one person stay sober, it's worth it, he said.
Karen Reynolds, a resident of New Way since December 2008, is one of the many alcoholics New Way has helped reach sobriety. She said she would continue to live there if it weren't for her 8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.
Reynolds has dealt with alcoholism for years: She was first introduced to AA in 1999. But for the first time, she said she is actually succeeding. Three times she left her alcoholism behind, and three times she relapsed, each relapse harder than the first.
Mason said a desire to be sober is enough to gain entrance at New Way.
The house admitted a homeless man from Ann Arbor. Mason said the freezing Michigan weather made the man's sleeping bag too cold and he could no longer move his legs.
"We were the only ones who would take someone without money," he said.
He said most of the residents come from somewhere other than Hillsdale.
"A lot of times they can't go back to where they came from," he said, and returning to a familiar environment often leads to a return to familiar habits.
"So they come to a place like this in the middle of nowhere."
New Way has a six-month program based on AA's 12 steps. Though Mason and his staff encourage the residents to remain for the entire six months, they are not required to stay.
"They start to feel better and decide they want to go out on their own," he said about those who leave before the six months are up. He added that it's common for those who don't complete the program to fall back into alcoholism.
He said because New Way is a non-profit organization, the Masons pay for whatever costs they can't cover with the residents' rent payments, though occasionally they receive a donation. Eventually, Mason said, he'd like to see the place pay for itself.
In its two years of existence, Mason said he's proud of what's been accomplished.
"Evidently it's working," he said. Some of the people who stayed there when New Way had just begun are still sober, and if they help one person stay sober, it's worth it, he said.
Karen Reynolds, a resident of New Way since December 2008, is one of the many alcoholics New Way has helped reach sobriety. She said she would continue to live there if it weren't for her 8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.
Reynolds has dealt with alcoholism for years: She was first introduced to AA in 1999. But for the first time, she said she is actually succeeding. Three times she left her alcoholism behind, and three times she relapsed, each relapse harder than the first.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Gary E. Kemp
posted 6/05/09 @ 3:15 PM EST
This is a good story BUT New way is not a non profit.
The New Way Recovery House is a very good place to learn to live life on lifes terms. Clean & sober. (Continued…)
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