A new residential addiction treatment center for women is getting ready to open in the Knox County town of Washington.
Organizers hope that the new 16-bed facility, called Tessa’s House, will provide a critical service in a rural area where people — and especially women — may have a harder time accessing treatment for their addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Merrilee Dahm Larsen, the executive director of Tessa’s House, said that she is not aware of any facilities in the region that offer a comparable residential treatment program for women, who face unique stigmas when it comes to overcoming addiction.
“Not only are we dealing with stigma for women accessing treatment, but the barriers are higher for women in rural areas,” Dahm Larsen said.
A grand opening for the center will be held on Saturday, which is expected to be attended by Gov. Janet Mills. The Maine Recovery Council has provided a grant of $1.1 million to help the center open.
The center is being opened by the Tessa Lee Libby Foundation, which was started in honor of Tessa Lee McCue, a Hampden native who excelled at figure skating but became addicted to drugs at a young age starting with medication for her ADHD. After fiercely fighting her addiction, she eventually died of a fentanyl overdose in 2022, at the age of 37.
“We have a lot of ideas from the lessons that Tessa learned along the way,” said her mother, Deb McCue. “She wanted to go to the Olympics, she was very dedicated to her craft … Tessa’s house is in her namesake. It’s launched in her name, and her spirit.”
The building the treatment center is located in, a former assisted living facility, was donated by a foundation board member.
According to Dahm Larsen, women struggling with substance use disorders face unique challenges in their recovery. Their addictions can impact more people, as many carry the added burden of caring for children. They may also face housing or job insecurity, especially for those who seek treatment in order to regain custody of their children. And for women facing domestic violence in relationships, it’s harder to leave and find treatment.
“The expectation is that somebody who’s a partner, sister, mother, shouldn’t have a substance use issue, and so they’re dealing with more challenges in being able to say that they need help,” Dahm Larsen said. “I think there are multiple barriers in those ways, because of all the roles women carry. They have to figure out, and surmount, how to get here.”
Tessa’s House will host an open house on June 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. to celebrate its realization. The facility has already been open for roughly three weeks, providing services to about five women, according Dahm Larsen.
It will provide a 30-day program that includes group and individual counseling. Participants will also be able to take medications such as Suboxone that can suppress their cravings, and which many experts say are the best way for people to overcome drug addiction. Participants will also have to attend meetings of recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
“This program was born out of a group of people coming together as a result of the grief of having lost loved ones to substance use,” Dham Larsen said. “And so instead of it being a story of grieving families and lives cut short as a result of substance use and addiction, it’s really become a story about … giving back to other women so that they have a chance to enter into recovery.”
The program will also incorporate additional offerings such as art therapy, gardening and time in nature, aided by the natural setting and walking trails surrounding the wooded 12-acre site on Razorville Road, according to Roddy McLean, a licensed addiction counselor who is on the board of the Tessa Lee Libby Foundation.
“Keeping busy is a real part of sobriety. You have to keep busy,” said McLean. “We’re trying to offer a number of things.”
To be admitted, all patients must undergo a thorough screening process.
The opening of the center comes as the numbers of fatal drug overdoses in Maine are finally dropping, after years of going up. But Maine still had almost 500 overdose deaths last year, and McLean said there is still strong demand for addiction treatment services.
“I’ve been in the field since 1978, and it has gotten steadily worse,” said McLean. “I have not seen … a recent decline in overdose deaths.”
BDN writer Jules Walkup contributed reporting.
