SWFAS to dedicate new halfway house for women

COURTESY PHOTO The new SWFAS women's halfway house. Southwest Florida Addiction Services will open a new larger halfway house for women June 17, replacing a 50-year-old structure at the Transitional Living Center on Dixie Parkway in Fort Myers.

The dedication and ribbon-cutting will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 17, at 2527 Dixie Parkway (between Franklin and South Street). Tours of the facility will follow the ceremony.

The new 16-bed facility will house 40 to 50 women per year who have completed the residential treatment program and moved into the halfway house for extended treatment.

The halfway house was built with $350,000 in funds from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, through the Lee County Commission, and $191,000 in funds from the Homeless Housing Assistance grant that is part of Lee County's Continuum of Care initiative. Operational and support service funds are provided, in part, by a U.S. Housing & Urban Development Continuum of Care grant.

An $11,300 grant from the Zonta Foundation of Southwest Florida and a $4,900 grant from The League Club helped to furnish the new women's home. Also, $700 from Bat Yam Temple on Sanibel Island was used for window coverings and bed linens.

The TLC now provides residential treatment for 42 men and women with drug and/or alcohol problems in either a shortterm residential program (one month) or in a four to six-month transitional living program.

Permanent supportive housing also is offered for an additional 34 individuals and up to two families in a variety of duplexes on the TLC campus that stretches from Dixie Parkway to Grand Avenue in central Fort Myers.

Residents of permanent supportive housing are expected to live a drug-free lifestyle, obtain work, and pay monthly rent that is based on their income. The facility is supported by 24/7 staff on the TLC campus and medical management is available, as needed.

SWFAS services are not free. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, based on family income. In many cases, private insurance is accepted. SWFAS is a United Way agency.

For more information, call 338-2977 or visit www.swfas.org.