The grand transitional home on Patterson Avenue, Transitional Option for Women, supports locals who have been released from jail or are recovering from addiction. Last October, the center was in danger of closing and appealed to the public for assistance.
Due to community support and the emergence of a generous donor, the center is now financially stable and has started to attract mentors for the women in the house. Recently, a writing program called Building Your Story was run by writer and academic Beth Cardier. The course taught life-building tools through the creation of narrative.
“Finding a role in society is similar to putting together a new story,” Beth said. “You start with little fragments, because that’s all you have. Over time you put them together until they become meaningful. The hard part is in not being alarmed at how small it seems, in the beginning.”
Beth wanted to give these women the same life-building tools she found after emigrating to rural Virginia from Australia in 2011. She was a new mom, with no extended family, friends or employment networks. She eventually used her professional understanding of story-making to integrate into the unfamiliar culture.
“I saw a newspaper article about the transitional home and realized I could give the women at the center the same tools I discovered through writing,” she said.
Director and founder of Transitional Options for Women, Dorothy Owsley, also believes in starting with the right pieces.
“If you come out of jail and the only person who’ll rent you an apartment is a slum lord, it puts you back in the situation that got you into trouble – drugs and poverty,” she said. “We break that cycle by giving women a new foundation, such as the skills in this program.”
Transitional Option for Women continues to rely on support from donors and volunteers who give their expertise to the center. Classes in cooking, yoga and substance recovery are planned for later this year. If interested in assisting, please contact Dorothy Owsley on 540-676-3318.
