La Plata, MD – Its new residents are but a few days away, but the Jude House held an open house Friday, May 6 to display its new halfway house for women in therapy for addiction.

The controversial treatment center was approved March 8 by the Charles County Board of Appeals to help alleviate overcrowding at the Jude House in Bel Alton and to separate men and women housed at that facility where they are undergoing counseling for opiate addictions. President of the Jude House Board of Directors Debby Prohaska said that she and her husband Dave have several houses they have bought, restored and rented in Charles County. They were planning on doing the same thing with the new house in Bel Alton until they were approached by Director Mary Lynn Logsdon about wanting to open a women’s home for five or six of the 14 women currently in the program.

“It was when we approached the county that we found that for such a facility special permits and specific guidelines had to be adhered to,” Prohaska stated. “That was the hiccup. Once he realized what it entailed, he applied for all of the permits.”

The facility was needed, she stressed.

Jude House currently has a waiting list of more than 100 names waiting to get into treatment.

“We don’t have space to grow,” she noted, adding that housing women and men under the same roof creates its own special set of problems as women in the program have also dealt with rape, sexual abuse and being beaten in their previous environments.

“Women have issues that are very difficult to address with men in attendance,” Prohaska said. “This house provides a private space to address issues specific to women.”

Residents are given counseling for healing trauma, domestic violence, anger management and learning about healthy boundaries, said Jameika Butler, head counselor for the program.

“We work with them one-on-one learning how to identify problem areas of addiction,” Butler said. “it’s not just drugs,” she stressed, “it’s about what happened in addition to the drugs.”

They work in tandem with other organizations, including the Center for Abused Persons in Waldorf and QCI Behavior Health in White Plains.

Prohaska said the new facility will be a model for those that follow, and admitted the Jude House is seeking other houses in the county to help alleviate the crowding.

“This is the new profile for the future,” she said.

The house has three bedrooms, a quiet room where mothers in the program can spend time with their children, office space and a recreation room.

The five women residents will arrive at their new home May 15.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com