AGENCY PLANS HOUSING FOR RECOVERING ADDICTS

HIGH POINT -- A nonprofit agency is pursuing federal funds to introduce the
city's first permanent housing for recovering substance abusers.

Caring Services Inc. is asking for $111,000 from the Department of Housing
and Urban Development. The money would be used to buy and renovate a house
near its Chestnut Drive offices. The grant application went out Tuesday.
The nonprofit agency, which offers shelter and counseling to about 60
recovering substance abusers, hopes to get a response by late summer.

"There's no such thing as typical abusers," said Jason Yates,
administrative assistant for Caring Services. "But they tend to wind up in
typical situations, such as leaving behind them a trail of financial wreckage."

Addicts often destroy their credit in an effort to feed their addictions,
Yates said. Even after they have rebuilt their lives, their credit remains
broken, making it difficult for them to rent apartments.

They often must settle for boarding houses, places in which recovering
substance abusers can find themselves living around people still in the
grip of alcoholism or drug addiction. And that can make backsliding a real
possibility, said Nolan Gray, who has been sober for more than two years.

"It's hard to be out there alone," he said. "Once you come through the
(recovery) program, it's good to have a place for fellowship with other
recovering addicts. They know what you've been through, and you can relate
to each other and help each other stay clean."

Gray has been out of Caring Services for eight months but continues to
visit the agency each day. The fellowship keeps him focused on recovery, he
said.

If that focus is lost, Yates said, substance abuse can return.

"They won't be working. They'll be stealing to get money for their
addictions. They'll wind up in jail, costing taxpayers a considerable
amount of money," he said.

Gray is one of the lucky ones. He maintained a relationship with his
girlfriend, whose good credit allowed her to rent an apartment for the
couple. But many other recovering substance abusers find themselves back on
the street with few options for permanent homes in which they can work to
rebuild their lives.

High Point does have so-called transitional housing. It's designed to be a
transition between a shelter and a permanent address. The Arthur Cassell
House -- associated with Open Door Ministries -- is an example.

But the state has only five places that offer permanent housing
specifically for recovering substance abusers, the closest in Durham,
according to Libby Stanley, special needs assistance program coordinator
for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's N.C. field office.

The proposed housing sounds like a good idea to Kenny Rister, who has been
at Caring Services for 13 months. He doesn't want to return to his hometown
in South Carolina when he leaves the agency, for fear that his addiction
will be more likely to return.

"I plan to stay here," Rister said. "I've made a lot of friends with guys
who've been through the same things I've been through. It keeps me focused,
and I don't want to get off track again."