Maybe one person can?t change the world ? but two local residents are doing their best.
Together, Elder C.W. Harris and Todd Marcus renovated a 3,000-square-foot building on Baltimore?s Pennsylvania Avenue and established it in 2000 as a six-month transitional recovery house for women overcoming addiction.
Today, the recovery center, known as Martha?s Place, houses 12 women at a time, who are accepted into the program after a 28-day detox program and an interview process. Seven staff members, including three drug counselors, all operate within a budget of about $222,000. The total renovation of the building cost $100,000, all of which came from donors.
“I can?t stress how humbly we began,” said Marcus, program developer of Martha?s Place. “It was [Harris] and I working on this building from nothing.”
When the two fused their skills, combining Harris? background as a master steam fitter with Marcus? carpentry skills from his years at Habitat for Humanity, the deal was sealed.
Now, Martha?s Place receives donations and grants from the Community Development Block Grant, Baltimore Homeless Services and Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems. Still, individual donors remain the center?s greatest funding source, according to Marcus.
“We have to first build trust, which comes only from love and compassion,” said Amelia Harris, executive director of Martha?s Place. “Our job is not to put these women down; they?ve already been there.”
While national completion rates from drug addiction programs are listed at about 35 percent, according to the 2004 Treatment Episode Data Set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Martha?s Place has operated with a nearly 50 percent rate since its opening.
“I came to Martha?s Place in 2004. They taught me a lot as far as being independent, cooking for myself, not letting no one else take care of my responsibilities, getting up and getting it done,” said Sylvia Pinkett, a graduate of Martha?s Place.
Pinkett also is a resident of Winchester House, the first long-term residence for graduates built across the street from Martha?s Place in 2006. In July, two more graduate residences will be dedicated.
More information
» Martha?s Place
1928 Pennsylvania Ave., Baltimore
410-728-8402
Why should addiction help centers receive federal funds? Respond below in our comment section.
