After Delays, Halfway Houses Readying for Residents

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Two Glen Cove Ave. halfway houses undergoing renovations for nearly a year now are preparing to receive their first residents, according to Lisa Cohn, the program's organizer.

Cohn had hoped to have the adjacent houses up and running in December, but several construction setbacks arose, including sewer pipes that needed to be replaced.

The renovation cost now totals more than $100,000, Cohn said. Half was raised through donations; the other $50,000 came out of Cohn's pocket. The effort has transformed the interiors of the homes, which had been rundown boarding houses known for housing renters with substance abuse issues.

Freshly painted walls, newly tiled bathrooms, new carpets, a brand new kitchen and bedrooms furnished with bunk beds and dressers are nearly ready to provide a healthy environment for women who may have never known such stability.

Materials and labor were donated by a host of local merchants, construction companies, organizations and individuals, including Glen Floors, Aboff's Paints, the Glen Head Rotary, Schoolhouse Remodeling and considerable monetary support from Vineyard Church in Rockeville Centre.

Cohn's faith-based program, Living Water for Women, will provide women with substance abuse issues who are released from Nassau County Correctional Facility this safe haven under strict supervision - curfew, drug and alcohol testing and other behavior requirements.

The goal for each will be sobriety and self-sustenance, but Cohn doesn't want any residents looking for work for at least two months after their arrival. 

"They've got to get their heads on straight," she said.

Cohn's first official candidate is set to be released May 10, but her commitment to women in crisis has already been tested. She allowed a 26-year-old woman temporary refuge in one of the rooms when the woman reported she had nowhere to go once she was released from jail.

After two months, problems arose. The tenant broke curfew and stayed out one night. She was caught smoking cigarettes in her room. She failed a drug test. Cohn kicked her out.

"I was a week away from reaching out to find her a hairdresser position, because that's what she wanted to do," Cohn said. "She has no idea how much she missed out. Now DSS will probably put her in a shelter or a welfare motel."

The woman, who Cohn said had emotional issues, came to her through the jail's DART program, a prerequisite for placement in Cohn's program. The acronym stands for desire, acceptance, responsibility and trust. Cohn's first experience with a released inmate taught her to be wary of candidates who displayed anything less than full commitment to those words and to remaining sober, and to screen younger people more carefully.

It was also an example of how she will keep residents to a certain standard; living clean in her houses is something earned, not given.

Cohn was honored for her work by Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton March 18, one of 19 Nassau County women presented with the Trailblazer award at the Nassau County Legislature during Women's History Month.

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