NPORTC Magazine

A Place To Lay

Their Head

CONTUNUED...

CONTINUE READING BELOW > > >

To make her dream come to life, her family stepped in

to help—her father, brother, and husband.

They got their license—and their first client—in February of this year. Starting with one house, there are now two houses and a van. This January, they open their third house. “My philosophy is: In order for people to recover, they need a place to put their head. In order for people to recover, they need a place to call home.” She has strict rules. Everyone keeps their appointments, and nobody gets high. “We have a house meeting every Friday to make sure that everybody has a good understanding of the program.” Offering services from PHP to IOP to OP, New Place is with its clients every step of the way. “We do a graduation ceremony for being clean for 28 days—they love it.” Starting in January, after completing OP, clients can move to what Nnenna has named “Responsible House”—independent living in their third house. “Anybody in independent living should be working by then or have their SSI” because they will pay a modest rent. After all she’s seen, Nnenna knows the importance of not rushing recovery. “A lot of programs are only three months. Because of the housing component, we can have them here for six months to a year.” Nnenna hears quite often, “When I graduate from your program, I want to work for you.” And she is proud of her clients. “They're doing good. They're doing great.” CEO Nnenna Ezeh 8