Keeping Hope Alive - Effort to Save Athena House

Dear Sonoma County Community Members, Family and Friends:

 

We need your help!

 

Athena House is a well-established Residential Treatment Center for women and their children located at the historic Stone House in Santa Rosa.

 

For the past 44 years,  Athena House has been supporting women of low income and involved in the criminal justice system, obtain sobriety and rebuild their lives. They have worked in collaboration with different county departments including Probation, TASC, Child Protective Services, Drug Court, in addition to Community Partners. This program has created ways for women to reunify with their children, gain employment, obtain stability, and so much more. The hundreds of alumni that stay connected to the program and support new women coming in, are a testament to the success of the program. 

For over thirty years the program has operated under the parent organization California Human Development. Due to reported financial hardship, CHD made the decision to end substance use and disability services here in Sonoma County. This was sudden news and gave the staff and clients less than two months to vacate the locations. The treatment program located at Stonehouse currently is housing 15 women and children. Hope Village (the transitional sober living houses) currently house 30 women and 10 children. Over 40 women in early recovery are facing homelessness, some with their children. This has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of some of our communities most vulnerable. 

 

We have found a new parent organization who has the ability to assume the current licensing required to operate the residential program but we still need the funding to continue operations for all programs during and after the change of hands. 

 

Our goal is to purchase Hope Village from CHD, three lots located in Rincon Valley, and complete the renovations needed to continue the residential treatment program on this property. Last week we received the market price from CHD for all the properties. The Stonehouse is around $3M and Hope Village is a little more than $2M but renovations will be at least $250k. 

 

Time unfortunately is not on our side as we desperately search for a solution before nearly 50+ women and children are displaced so we ask that you support, share, and help us spread awareness of the situation.

 

As of 2022, Sonoma County became #3 in the state with the highest amount of fatal overdoses due to fentanyl. Within the past two years three babies have died from fentanyl consumption.  Multiple people are waiting in jail for treatment beds to open up to complete their jail alternative sentence. Children in foster care are unable to reunify with their parents because there are no treatment options in Sonoma County for single women or men to get help. The impact on so many lives is completely disheartening. 

Given the rise in substance and mental health crisis in our community, we simply cannot afford to lose Athena House. We need the community to help us prevent this treatment program from closing. It's life or death for many. 

 

We thank you in advance,

Brooke Ross (Alumni)

Jasmine Palmer (Alumni)

[email redacted] 

 

Tax Deductible Donations: 82-4786573