Santa Rosa's renewed Athena House ready for addiction recovery

Athena House had its grand re-opening in June of this year; the site features eight new buildings along with a pickleball court, gym, garden and playground.
photo credit: Courtesy of Buckelew Programs
The remodeled Athena House in Santa Rosa.

An addiction recovery program in Santa Rosa was set to shut its doors in 2022, but instead of closing forever, the property was purchased and completely remodeled with the help of local donors.

KRCB’s Amaray Alvarez toured the newly remodeled Athena House and Hope Village to let us know what’s new.

Faced with financial troubles after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Athena House and Hope Village planned to close after the last five women staying there graduated. This would have ended addiction recovery services and transitional housing for women and nonbinary persons in the community.

Sylvie De La Cruz is the Athena House program director, and a graduate of the program herself in 2000,

De La Cruz said they didn't know what to do when the former Stone House property was going to be sold. So, she publicized their problem, hoping for a solution. That's when locals Bill and Cindy Gallaher heard about the problem.

“They bought the property, sight unseen, expecting that it just needed a little bit of TLC, maybe some remodeling and some upkeep,” De La Cruz said. “So the Gallahers returned from Hawaii, they came and looked at the property and they were absolutely appalled. It had deteriorated significantly.”

De La Cruz said the Gallahers bought the property for $2.1 million dollars, and have spent $6 million dollars on renovations. The site is now managed by Buckelew Programs. That’s a North Bay nonprofit that helps people with behavioral health challenges.

During renovations, the Athena House and Hope Village had to close for one year. Those looking for treatment were sent to programs outside of Sonoma County. De La Cruz said this can limit the progress made through rehab.

“The problem with that is, while they might get treatment, they're not developing the fellowship of women that will continue the support that they need,” said De La Cruz. “So they'll go do treatment in another county, but when they get back to Sonoma County, they don't know anybody, and that can be a really daunting thing to then go to AA or NA meetings where they don't know anybody.”

Athena House had its grand re-opening in June of this year. The site features eight new buildings along with a pickleball court, gym, garden and playground. The playground is for children the program allows to live there while their mothers complete treatment. This helps mothers not lose custody of their children.

The new Athena House is dedicated to rehabilitation treatment. There are seven rooms with a total of 14 beds. Those living here split household chores and cooking duties. The Peri house is also used for rehab but has space for women with children.

“We address everything. We look at all of the particular barriers a woman has had in her life that has kept her from living clean and sober, and being able to sustain that. 99.9% of the time, there is unresolved trauma,” De La Cruz said.

The treatment focuses on individual and group therapy with lessons on family, fitness and job training.

The first 30 days of treatment is a blackout period, meaning the women have to stay on the property. After that, they are able to leave to attend appointments and meetings.

“The important thing about a phased program is, you're going to encounter triggers. You get on the bus, you run into somebody, but the beauty of that is they start to have those experiences while they're in residential treatment, and then we work through the coping mechanisms,” De La Cruz said.

The treatment typically lasts 90 days.

De La Cruz said Sonoma County residents who are low income, can qualify for the treatment at no cost. Those who pay privately are charged $7500 a month. There is currently no waitlist to start treatment.

Those who graduate from the Athena House can then choose to stay at Hope Village  for longer-term transitional housing. Hope Village and the “Mommy and Me House” are two buildings with 15 rooms, with most being shared by two persons.

During our tour not all beds were full. The longer-term housing cost $700 a month with a $200 deposit.

Christine graduated from the program in 2022 and now works at the Athena House. She said she wants to give back to others in need. And that the program is challenging, but necessary for her success.

“It's not easy, being a grown adult, being told when you can and can't do things and how to do things,” Christine told KRCB News during our tour. “But if you can give it the opportunity and yourself the opportunity, it can absolutely give you your life back.

When asked about what goals she has for her future:

“Goals in general,” Christine said. “You know, I wasn't a big dreamer. I want to be a counselor. I'm not sure if I want to be a counselor for women or juveniles, but I have dreams to give back and to grow and to help people along that process.”

Women and nonbinary persons who are over the age of 18 are eligible to start the program. Accompanying children must be under the age of five.

For more information about treatment, email AthenaHouse@Buckelew.org

Reporting in Santa Rosa, I’m Amaray Alvarez, KRCB Sonoma County News