Blending in and giving back,ex-addict looks to support others in recovery

"Substance abuse is a part of every Utah neighborhood," said Casey Hill, executive director of Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness. "The difference is, people who are in (treatment) facilities are ... actually trying to find recovery (while) your next-door neighbors are still struggling."

Recovery next door

Many Utahns quickly agree that substance abuse treatment is necessary.

But not in my community, they say. Put the programs and those who need them somewhere else.

"It's a very tender subject," said Joi Pearson, an Orem resident who lives near a female sober-living home, which recently became licensed as a residential transitional care facility. "Even for people who realize the need for these places, having them live next door to you is a different question."

"There are lots of ways to allow these homes to be in existence and do well, but there are so many more protections they could put in place for the neighbors that haven't been done yet," Pearson continued. "The question is, what can (cities) do?"

Cities must comply with the Fair Housing Act, which requires that those with disabilities — including recovering addicts — be given the same housing opportunities as anyone else.

Orem allows sober-living homes or residential transitional care centers to house more people than the normal allowed number of unrelated occupants, so endeavors can be "economically viable and therapeutically effective," said Steve Earl, an Orem City attorney.

That discrepancy is difficult for some residents, said Orem City councilman Mark Seastrand.

"Usually the neighbor's concerns come from ... lots of people in a single home and a fairly high degree of turnover (bringing) an increase of traffic, increase of visitors," Seastrand said. "The issues that any typical neighborhood would be concerned about."

And they are. The home Pearson worries about is in the middle of a stable cul-de-sac.

"It doesn't look any different than any of our other homes in the neighborhood," said another neighbor, Kristin Bryce. "Our only concern is that we just don't know who's there."

The concern lessened after neighbors met the clients at a July Fourth barbecue.

"They're not scary people, they're real people," Bryce said. "We've all been touched by alcoholism and drug abuse in our families so we have compassion for them. We want them to get the help they need to be better, to be clean."

Neighbors said much of their frustration came when the homeowners, who had lived there for nearly a year as a family, changed the home to a sober-living home without telling anyone.