Most would agree it’s a noble idea: a home in a residential neighborhood where women recovering from substance-abuse problems could take their final steps toward getting back on their feet and into society.
Most would agree, that is, until someone suggests the home be located on their street.
That seems to be what is unfolding in a Naperville neighborhood. Addison’s Serenity House, a recovery program for substance abusers, apparently is weighing buying a single-family residence there to use as a temporary home for women who have finished drug treatment.
Organizers are calling the facility a “three-quarter house,” suggesting the residents would be further along in their recovery than those in a halfway house.
News of plans for a residence in the 1000 block of Alder Lane recently came to the attention of neighbors. Now, the homeowners want Naperville officials to address their fears, including where up to eight women who are re-entering the work force will park their cars and what will happen if the not-so-recovered boyfriend of a resident shows up for a weekend visit.
“We’re definitely concerned about safety,” said Rusins Albertins, who has lived on the Alder block since 1970. “This is a veritable baby factory here, kids everywhere. This is a prime residential lot in a single-family neighborhood.”
That, of course, is the idea behind the home. Women who have finished treatment would be placed in “normal” surroundings, according to organization officials.
Serenity House leaders would not comment on how far along they are in their consideration of the house purchase.
Over the summer, Serenity House was granted $110,000 in DuPage County housing funds toward buying a home in Naperville. Naperville previously had committed $50,000 in community block grant funds toward the plan, money that city officials said was offered with the understanding that it would be used for a home in a residential setting.
“The women who come to this home will be women who already have gone through treatment,” said Serenity House Director Henry Tews at the time the grant was promised. “This is the final and last stage before they move into self-sufficiency.”
Tews has said up to eight women would live in the residence, one serving as a “peer leader.” It is expected each woman could remain there for six months or longer.
Naperville officials said no one at City Hall is shepherding the Alder Lane plan, which does not appear to face any zoning problems. Bob Kallien, community development director, said a facility of the size and scope being discussed is legal in any residential zoning district in the city and is not required to register with city officials. However, residential-care sponsors must have the appropriate licenses.
Kallien said a similar home in Naperville near the East-West Tollway has not been a problem. Officials said Serenity House has been in contact with the city’s fire department and building inspectors.
Kallien said his office will have to see how Serenity House plans to handle parking at the house, but city officials have no concerns about the center operating in the neighborhood.
Some area residents said that they are not necessarily opposed to the organization’s plans but that they have concerns any homeowner would want addressed if faced with the prospect of such a facility nearby.
“It’s hard because we would want people in a program like this to have the chance to recover,” said one woman who asked not to be identified.
In late 1997, Serenity House opened a men’s home with a similar mission in an Addison two-flat. Police there said the home has not become a law enforcement issue.
