September 30, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The Smithville Recovery House#1 is now open!
The City of Smithville now has a new transitional housing program for up to eight females who are in recovery from substance abuse. Two women have already been placed and six openings remain.
A ribbon cutting was held last week at the home located at 415 Wade Street.
“There is an application process to be placed but the main purpose of the home is to provide safe, affordable housing for those in long term recovery. The key is that they have to come out of some type of program and be on the road to recovery. There is no on-going treatment that would take place inside the home. Its all-post recovery,” said UCDD and UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley.
“Most of the women will be working with certified peer recovery specialists and that is part of their recovery, staying in contact and making sure they have the support system around them that they need”.
“With the funding stream we received on this home, its not permanent housing. They have up to two years to stay and then they would need to transition to long term permanent housing but we will be working with each of the ladies trying to make sure they are able to get employed where they can afford to live on their own and hopefully move back into normal life”, said Farley.
Their monthly rent to live at the home is approximately $125 per month.
“We are working with a lot of the great partners we have including the recovery court to bring us referrals and we will sit down and go through their applications and make sure they qualify,” Farley said.
In March 2022 the City of Smithville learned that it had been approved for a Community Development Block Grant through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development in the amount of $433,790 to fund this program.
The Upper Cumberland Development District applied for the grant on behalf of the city and the program is administered by the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency. The grant was 100% funded with no local match requirement by the city.
The Mayor and Alderman approved a Housing Management Plan contract last November with the Cumberland Regional Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Upper Cumberland Development District to move forward with the project. The purchase price for the property on Wade Street was $375,000 (grant funded).
Under the grant program, the UCDD and city will partner with UCHRA to manage the transitional housing facility in serving up to eight women in recovery. In addition to the tenants, the home will have an on-site residential manager.
Myra Walker of CRDC in Cookeville is the contact person for the managing agent of this project.