Funds OK’d for recovery home

Recovery is within reach.

Jay County Commissioners approved a $13,150 request Monday from Jay County Drug Prevention to pay for work related to creating a recovery home in Portland.

The request will be taken from National Opioid Settlement dollars. As of Monday, the county had more than $403,000 available, approximately $75,000 are unrestricted funds. 

Jay County Council will also need to approve the funding at its next meeting in March.

Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition executive director Kimbra Reynolds explained the feasibility study on The Vision on Votaw recovery home — its name, decided in July, incorporates the location's address at 422 W. Votaw St. — has been completed. 

“It is very feasible for us to move forward with the plans there,” she said.

Commissioners approved initial funding for a preliminary engineering report on the facility in July. Bruns Consulting of Fort Recovery completed a feasibility study on the nearly 4,000-square-foot house and the 1,500-square-foot garage on the property. Muhlenkamp Building Corporation of Coldwater, Ohio, has also helped with work on the project.

Plans had been to shift the house into a residential area and the garage into a community center for the facility. Renovations tentatively included adding on more square footage, reconfiguring bedrooms and communal living spaces, updating safety features, improving accessibility and ensuring compliance with state guidelines.

Hopes are to have architectural designs completed and submitted to Indiana Department of Homeland Security by March 29. Once the state department has approved building plans, Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition can move forward with seeking bids for construction. 

Reynolds shared hopes to move forward with the project by summer. She expressed her excitement after the commissioners’ meeting Monday with taking one step closer to the recovery home’s completion.

“We’re excited for it to be moving forward — I feel like we’ve been at a standstill for a bit, but that’s partly because there was so much energy and items that had to be put into this to make sure it was a feasible home and location,” she said.

Jay County Opioid Settlement Taskforce, which was created to look into options for putting the county’s opioid settlement funds to use, preliminarily selected a Redkey house in December 2023 as a potential location for a sober living facility. Commissioners subsequently approved a $35,000 request for opioid settlement dollars for a feasibility study and earnest money on the house. Commissioners later rescinded that decision in response to backlash from Redkey residents, who cited a lack of amenities and resources as well as safety concerns regarding the facility. The task force pulled its offer on the Redkey home and began looking for another location.

IU Health Jay donated the house on Votaw Street in Portland in May for the purpose of converting it into a recovery home. The Vision on Votaw will serve between 15 and 17 male residents, including one house manager in long-term recovery overseeing the facility.

Commissioners president Chad Aker spoke in favor of the project, noting the small amount requested Monday compared to the amount of opioid funds available currently.

“This money should be going to fight the opioid problem that we have,” he said. “I commend you guys for taking the forefront, taking the initiative, to do this. I’m fully supporting this.”