Former Jefferson hotel geared towards creating ‘recovery community’ apartments

JEFFERSON, WV (WOWK) – The former “Smiley’s Motel” in Jefferson is offering a fresh start to people looking for a new place to live and a new chapter in their lives.

Former engineer Roy Rutan said he moved into Safe Harbor apartments on MacCorkle Avenue, which replaced the former motel, three months ago, after he was in “a dark place.”

“When my dad died, it got really bad for a while there, and I got into using a bunch of drugs and drinking. I just sort of gave up. I loved my dad more than anything in this world, and he was my best friend,” Rutan said. “I turned around and got injured on the west side by a car, hurt my hip real bad. I was starting to get in a dark place with that, and I found these people here, and they helped me immensely. They put me back to work.”

Rutan found Safe Harbor Apartments and Save Haven Sober Living, which gave him a chance to go to rehab and find accountability in his life. He is now their maintenance manager.

“You won’t feel intimidated to get back into drinking or doing drugs or anything around here, which is really nice. We’re like sheltered a little bit, which some people need in their life, a little shelter. I feel like I’m doing pretty good, and I really do like the place,” Rutan said.

Safe Harbor is for people in recovery who are looking to live independently but also want to be supported in their recovery by staff and community. One year since the groundbreaking, there are now 40 tenants living at Safe Harbor apartments.

Ben Fox, who has lived at the apartments for four months, was in the Safe Haven sober living program before he moved to Safe Harbor.

“Before I came here, I had pretty much hit rock bottom. I was living in a hotel. I couldn’t stay sober, couldn’t hold down a job. I was just kind of, I was at my end. I didn’t know what else to do, so I decided to go get some help,” Fox said. “My health has improved drastically. I was very sick last year. I was in and out of the hospital a lot before I went to rehab.”

Fox said he struggled with alcoholism.

“The more you feel like people are pushing you away, the more you want to embrace that alcohol, or for me it was alcohol. It just got to the point where I needed it day and night. Even when I was very sick, my doctors told me stopped, but I couldn’t,” Fox said.

Fox also said the friendships you make when you live in housing like Safe Harbor gives you a type of community he never imagined beforehand.

“Getting clean and sober isn’t just about ‘stop drinking’ or ‘stop using.’ It’s about changing your way of thinking,” Fox said.

Staff at Safe Harbor say the goal is to create 400 total units over the next three years by remodeling existing old motels right next to Safe Harbor. Executive Administrative Assistant Jennifer Lake said Safe Harbor is reliant on community support to continue their mission of helping people in recovery and expanding.

“We are geared towards people coming out of sober living to continue that sobriety, and we really are very closeknit like a family. Everyone here, all my residents, I’m like the resident manager here. A lot of people don’t have many friends and family left, and we are very much like a family,” Lake said.

Terri McManamay, the assistant director, just moved into the apartments last weekend and said she is in recovery herself, sharing that this is a good opportunity for anyone who needs a second chance free of judgement.

“Sometimes people have a hard time finding a place because they have felonies because they have a past history of alcoholism or drug abuse. That goes against them when they’re trying to find an apartment or a house. Here we offer them the second chance.”

The Director at Safe Haven Sober Homes, Toby Moore, works on site of the Safe Harbor apartments and also relates to the experiences of tenants in recovery.

“I had no hope. I was living with my mother at 50 years old. I had no license. Now, I am the director of Safe Haven sober homes. We work with Safe Harbor on continuing people’s recovery and their lifestyle. It’s been a passion of mine. Once you get through it, you just want to help the other ones know that there’s a way through,” Moore said.

Lake and other staff members said they want to add a restaurant to the property to create a “recovery community.” At this time, there is a community garden, firepit overlooking the river, a laundry room, a snack room and more.

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