By Helina Bailey
Most of us are familiar with halfway homes. Unfortunately, that’s because many of us have been touched by addiction in some way, shape, or form.
We have lost a loved one to addiction, have a friend who has lost a loved one, or have watched it impact our community. In many instances, addiction is much closer to us than we would like to acknowledge.
Addiction is an ugly disease that ruins lives and destroys families, robbing people of a future. “Addiction” is a heavy word that no one likes to hear or talk about, as it is often synonymous with “hopeless.” However, there is always hope!
Healing Hearts Sober Living of Corryton is that hope for many women who have taken the steps towards sobriety and are working to get back on their feet to reclaim their lives. Healing Hearts Sober Living provides women with a stable home after they leave a halfway house. It is a unique “three-quarter graduate” sober living program—a place in which women can continue on the road to sobriety and prepare themselves for a successful transition back into the community, while learning the skills necessary to live independently.
For those unfamiliar with the cycle of addiction, it often leads to a rock bottom situation that results in incarceration or homelessness. Then, it goes from the streets, or jail, to rehab. This part of the cycle tends to repeat itself multiple times before someone makes it to a halfway home. Although it might seem like success is on the horizon when a loved one makes it to a halfway home and then graduates, managing to stay sober, employed and actively attending growth classes (A.A., N.A., etc.) for three to six months. It is heartbreaking when they fall back into addiction.
This is why Nancy Norris of Maynardville founded Healing Hearts Sober Living—to break that cycle. Nancy has seen it happen too many times and believes the gap between a halfway house and living on one’s own is too big.
She explained to me that halfway homes are very strict with a highly structured schedule and chores, something that is not reflected in reality. Once someone graduates, they are suddenly slammed with stressors and bills that make it feel impossible to succeed.
How is someone a few months into their walk with sobriety expected to suddenly find a home, or apartment, in this economy and manage all of the stress and responsibilities of life on their own without sliding back into old habits?
A three-quarter graduate sober living home is the step in between, focused on the transition to independence, instilling life skills into its patrons so that they are not floundering once they leave. In this home, patrons learn how to balance a checkbook, how to pay bills, how to establish and stick to a budget—while working, attending growth classes, cooking for themselves and caring for the house’s cleanliness. Chores are assigned, but loosely, because no one is going to micromanage your cleaning chores when you have your own apartment.
The concept behind Healing Hearts Sober Living is to prepare women to smoothly transition on their own. By working with other programs in the area to help find affordable housing, job training and beneficial courses/classes, this home produces a high number of successful graduates. It is not a federally or state funded home, it runs solely off of donations and the $600/month rent fee per room. There are six rooms available with two bedrooms currently open.
Each month, the women staying in the home come together for a financial class and go over the home’s bills, ensuring they have a realistic understanding of what the current rate is for utilities in the area.
The home provides all of the communal necessities for the women, including dish soap, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Oftentimes, this comes out the pocket of the founder, Nancy Norris, due to lack of funding for the home. Despite already having a full-time career as a Realtor and providing accounting services, Nancy has taken on the task of fighting addiction. She has decided to use her unique qualifications and life experience to make a difference in the community, so she goes above and beyond to keep Healing Hearts Sober Living successful. She has a calm, sweet demeanor that seems out of place in this field of work, but behind her Southern charm is a force to be reckoned with.
Nancy Norris is a U.S. Army veteran, having served our country for 27 years. Before settling into the quiet life as a Grammy, she traveled the world as a soldier, commanding troops and going to war. She has taken that experience and responsibility from her military career and expertly applied it to the battlefield at home, fighting addiction with love and hope.
She is firm, but kind and loving in her approach, ensuring that every woman at Healing Hearts Sober Living has the best chance at success, embodying the Christian value of forgiveness and second chances.
Currently, the home is need of monetary donations to help provide necessities for the women and a reliable vehicle to aid in getting them to doctor appointments and work. They also are seeking out Bibles and women’s devotionals.
To make a donation, apply for a bedroom at Healing Hearts Sober Living, or to learn more about the program, you can visit their website at https://HealingHeartsSoberLiving.com/ or contact Nancy at (865)745-9168. An Amazon WishList will be available soon on their website for items the women need.