MetroHealth Opens Second Moms House for Pregnant Women in Recovery

After witnessing the positive impact of its first Moms House, a sober house for pregnant women with opioid use disorders, The MetroHealth System is expanding. A second Moms House location will soon open to support more mothers in recovery.

Sobriety is a difficult journey to walk alone, so in 2020 The MetroHealth System opened its first recovery home for mothers and their children.  The women have full access to MetroHealth’s resources and medical staff to help them in their recovery journey.

New house manager, Jennifer Halstead, understands the fragility of recovery. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 18 and prescribed opioids to manage the pain. Unknowingly, that served as a gateway to stronger drugs. Halstead went down a dark path for years, fighting for sobriety, relapsing and almost reaching death until she found Edna House for Women in Cleveland. For six months, she was surrounded and encouraged by women who experienced the same struggle. 

Now employed at The Moms House, Halstead is working with women who need the same support. She recognizes that it takes a village to establish healthy, sober lifestyles. She and Monica Matia, the project coordinator, offer individualized support to help the women achieve their goals.

"It's incredibly rewarding to watch these women grow, to see them persevere and transform is a beautiful thing,” said Halstead. “The Moms House is a program that not only changes the lives of the women and children here, but also sets a thriving foundation for future generations."

 Unlike other programs, The Moms House supports various pathways to recovery including women on medication-assisted treatment. Being a new mom is difficult but being a new mom in recovery is even more challenging.

This sort of work isn’t out of the ordinary for MetroHealth whose mission is focused on healthy lifestyles. Through MetroHealth’s Mother and Child Dependency Program, pregnant women and their infants are offered a non-judgmental environment to live a life in recovery.

Funding for the house was made possible by Jacke and Eric Wiedemer. After the couple witnessed the loving care provided to Eric's father, Rick Wiedemer, in the Neurocritical Care Unit, they knew they had to find a way to give back to MetroHealth. "I wanted to get involved with helping families thrive," said Jacke.

To donate to The Moms House, visit https://www.metrohealth.org/foundation/donate, click “Other" in the drop down menu and indicate that the donation is for the Mother & Child Dependency Sober Housing.

For the safety and privacy of residents, the location of the home is not available to the public. More information on The Moms House can be found here: https://www.metrohealth.org/obgyn/the-moms-house. If you have additional questions, please email Themomshouse@metrohealth.org.