HAYWARD — A Cherryland halfway house for women will get its three-year operating permit from Alameda County, that’s for certain.
After all, female adults recovering from drug and alcohol addictions — along with women on furlough from state prisons — need residential facilities where they can be treated and trained.
But on Wednesday, members of the West County Board of Zoning Adjustments weren’t going to give Women on the Way Recovery Center the permit without first getting all of their questions answered.
The Haviland Avenue facility is up for its three-year permit renewal, tied to a state license that allows up to 10 women on the premises. No opposition to the permit’s reissuance has been filed.
Ed Bullok, who chairs the center’s board of directors, and county planners pledged to return Jan. 24 with answers to what a “furlough facility” actually means.
Board member Ron Palmeri, who lives around the corner from the recovery program, voiced concerns about adding language to the permit without understanding the potential impact.
Bullok said the facility’s operations aren’t his area of expertise. He gave only vague answers about the success rate for women “graduating” from the program after six to 18 months of residency, the status of a garage-turned-office that will need a conversion permit, and the furlough question.
However, he was emphatic in describing how job training and anger management classes — as well as weekly house-cleaning activities — help women get back into the mainstream.
Bullok estimated that half the women in the program “put their lives together,” many going on to another Women on the Way program in Ashland.
In Cherryland, every 32nd person lives in a care home, rehabilitation center or retirement complex. About 14,000 people live in Cherryland. The nearly two dozen Cherryland residential facilities house 438 people, according to December statistics provided by county planners.
Women on the Way purchased the house, where its program has operated for a decade, about two years ago. It has received financial support from the county and city of Hayward, among other sources.
Karen Holzmeister can be reached at (510) 293-2478 or kholzmeister@dailyreviewonline.com.