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New Life Apartments a Rea of Hope for Women and Their Children

This past October, a ribbon was cut by Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on the steps of an apartment building in Charleston, West Virginia. This wasn’t the opening, though, of just any ordinary building; these apartments represent new life to the seven women and their children who now call it home.

Women like Tiffany M. and Amanda D., both mothers of two who only recently struggled with substance abuse, losing control of their lives and custody of their children. They both successfully completed alcohol and drug addiction treatment programs and graduated from the Rea of Hope Fellowship Home, a safe haven in Charleston that helps women regain their footing during early addiction recovery.

It was the question of where they go next that most troubled Rea of Hope’s staff. Many graduates begin their stay homeless, and leave facing those same challenges. Without the money saved for a deposit on an apartment, or to turn on utilities and buy a car, the likelihood for relapse increases.

“By following up with our graduates we identified a need for continued safe housing, especially for women with minor children,” Rea of Hope Executive Director Marie Beaver said.

Thus was born the concept for Rea of Hope’s newly opened and aptly named New Life Apartments. Tiffany, Amanda and five other women will stay in the apartments for up to two years while they learn how to live independently. They will attend life skills and money management classes, staying under the strict condition that they remain sober and employed, or a student. When they move out, new Rea of Hope graduates will succeed them.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, through member United Bank, gave Rea of Hope a $275,000 Affordable Housing Program grant to fund more than half the building purchase, renovation and furnishing costs. Other sponsors included the West Virginia Housing Development Fund and the state’s Division on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

“We feel so blessed to be recipients of this money and to expand our mission of providing a safe, positive home environment, where mutual support and caring will be provided as a link in the recovery process,” Beaver said. “We believe Rea of Hope New Life Apartments will increase the opportunities for West Virginia women and children in recovery.”

The apartments already are achieving just that. Tiffany and Amanda have both regained custody of their children, and not only are they on track to a happier future, their children are, too.

For more information on this recovery program, visit Rea of Hope.