Jan. 20—CUMBERLAND — The nonprofit Archway Station is seeking Allegany County’s assistance to acquire a Fayette Street building that would offer women with addictions a place to recover and rejoin their families.

“The purpose is to secure housing for women in Allegany County who wish to reunify with their children,” Jim Raley, executive director of Archway, recently told county commissioners. “For many mothers, having their children back after falling victim to the disease of addiction makes all the difference.”

Archway Station, which was established in 1980, provides mental health and addictions services. It operates several residential rehabilitation facilities across county.

Raley said Archway, a past recipient of Community Development Block Grants through the Maryland Department of Behavioral Health, is seeking $900,000 in CDBG funds to acquire the former St. Peter and Paul’s Convent at 125 Fayette St.

“This is truly an opportunity for our community to embrace the substance use crisis by helping mothers to unify and bring their family back together, avoiding out of home placement in foster care or with other family members when the biological mother is capable of supporting her children with proper housing.”

Commission President Dave Caporale asked how many clients could the facility handle.

Raley said the facility would have 17 bedrooms and could handle 12 to 15 women. “This would be a true program for women in recovery who would be able to bring their children with them, providing a safe space while working to seek employment opportunities and parenting skills with the plan to graduate to their own housing in a period of 24 months.”

Raley’s presentation was part of a public hearing on the topic. There were no questions or objections heard at the hearing. The county commissioners will take action on the request at a future meeting.

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.