Women’s Recovery Home Prepares For Big Move

Sister House, a women recovery home in Chicago’s Austin community, is moving to a new location after 32 years in their current facility. The organization is currently hosting an online fundraising campaign to raise $5,000 to assist with moving expenses as they prepare for their Sept. 1 move-in date.
Sister House, a women recovery home in Chicago’s Austin community, is moving to a new location after 32 years in their current facility. The organization is currently hosting an online fundraising campaign to raise $5,000 to assist with moving expenses as they prepare for their Sept. 1 move-in date.

Women’s Recovery Home Prepares For Big Move

By: Katherine Newman

Sister House, a women recovery home in Chicago’s Austin community, is moving to a new location after 36 years in their current facility. The organization is currently hosting a fundraising campaign to raise $5,000 to assist with moving expenses as they prepare for their Sept. 1 move-in date.

Sister House is a 16-bed facility that adult women are able to transition into after completing at least 28-days in a detox or treatment program for drug and alcohol addiction or after exiting the penal system and wanting extra help in maintaining their sobriety.

“If you can educate a woman and empower a woman then, in turn, she will do the same with those in her household, meaning her children, which will allow her and her family to be more productive within the communities that they live. That’s really the cusp of what Sister House stands on, it’s about advocating, supporting, and empowering women so they can ultimately be supportive to the communities to which they live,” said Lisa Steward-Baugh, executive director of Sister House.

Currently, Sister House operates in an old convent at 851 N. Lemington St. in the heart of Austin. The current building is in need of some repairs and rehabilitation that Sister House cannot provide so they have decided to move.

“The building that we are in is a former convent and it works really well because of the length of time that our women stay in the program and the fact that it allows the women to have their own individual space as they evolve and elevate,” said Steward-Baugh. “We have been in this building on Lemington for 36 years and unfortunately it needs a lot of TLC that we are not able to financially offer and it just works in our favor to identify a new location. As we prepare to move, myself and the board came up with the idea of the 60-day challenge to try and raise $5,000 to go toward preparing for that move.”

The organization will be moving into another former convent location on the corner of Washington Blvd. and Austin Blvd.

Aside from financial donations for the move, Sister House is also hosting a volunteer orientation on June 30th from 10 a.m. to noon for anyone who is interested in getting involved n the organization. Volunteer opportunities include administrative assistance, organizing donations, tutoring Sister House residents who are working toward getting their GED, and arts and crafts instruction.

“Several months ago someone donated us 10 working sewing machines and unfortunately we don’t have anybody that knows how to sew but if we obtained a volunteer that knew how to sew and was open to offering some hours to help our women learn how to sew that would be another volunteer opportunity,” said Steward-Baugh.

To donate to the Sister House moving fund and to learn more about volunteer opportunities visit sisterhousechicago.org

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