Nonprofit plans new type of transitional homes

The nonprofit Reflections and Recovery is planning its next growth step, the building of a few “tiny” homes for women recovering from addiction.

The nonprofit — formed 15 years ago by former school social worker Lorual VanRheenen — provides faith-based treatment programs at community organizations and jails in the area and at its campus on West Alameda Street, which includes its offices and classrooms and a women’s sober-living home that began accepting residents in 2013.

The home has served 25 women over the years, while the group’s other services have reached thousands, VanRheenen said. Those efforts include 12-step programs at churches and other community sites, therapeutic art classes, programs for the families of those with addictions, jail ministries, food and clothing donations, and treatment programs for people seeking to overcome the effects of child abuse.

Now the group is planning to build a $150,000 fourplex, a “tiny” home unit on its campus, to provide an additional transitional step for women working to rebuild their lives.

“We found that the ladies were good when they were with us,” VanRheenen said, referring to the sober-living home, “but that they tended to struggle once they left.”