Women’s group home planned for Barrow County

A group home for women recovering from drug addiction and exiting detox treatment or jail is planned for Barrow County.
The Barrow County Board of Commissioners approved on Tuesday a special-use request for the 5-acre property at 9 Jefferson Rd., Statham, that was once a personal-care home but has been vacant for several years.
The letter of intent to the county states that the facility would house 18-20 women and provide them with a “safe” and “sober” home as well as an economical way for them to restart their lives.
The request was brought forward by Penelope Tench, who will be the director of the Richard C. Wilson Recovery Residence. The facility will be named after her uncle, who battled addiction but used his skills as a physician’s assistant in detox and rehabilitation facilities.
Tench has sought online funding through GoFundMe for the facility, which she said is sorely needed in Barrow County. While there are programs for men like Project ADAM, there are no group homes currently in the county for the women she is targeting, many of whom she said have to go back to environments with ongoing drug use.
“That doesn’t work really well with a probation officer, (but) those kind of situations arise,” Tench told commissioners. “They come back to husbands or boyfriends still in active addiction and they can’t afford to come out of jail and go some place where housing and food are provided or where they have the opportunity to get a job or learn to save money.”
Tench will live on the premises full-time and said she would provide a strict regimen for residents. They’ll be drug-tested twice a week, including a breathalyzer, she said, and they must be actively seeking employment. Tench said she plans to work with Adult Literacy Barrow and other adult education programs in the county to help people with job searches, obtaining a GED, etc.
Jonnie Hunter, associate director of Peace Place, Inc. in Winder and Superior Court Judge Currie M. Mingledorff II endorsed the project in letters to the county.
For more on Tuesday's meeting, see the June 13 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.