Although the Town Council has made no decisions affecting the Courage House “sober house,” scheduled to open in early June in the old Sigma Nu fraternity house on School Street, there will be several opportunities for the public to learn more about the facility for men transitioning from prison who may be recovering from substance abuse.
The Town Council will hold a workshop with legal council on May 23 at the Municipal Center from 6-8 p.m. to discuss potential options. The public is encouraged to attend, but the workshop format does not include public comment.
On May 29, the owner of the building, Rob Korobkin of Maine Reentry Services, LLC, has scheduled a public forum to be held at First Parish Church at 6 p.m. The participants will include Korobkin and Sean Crothers, Business Development Director for Evergreen Recovery Healthcare. Crothers will be renting a room in the building where drug and alcohol councilors from his organization can meet with residents.
Also at the forum will be Courage House’s newly hired program director, Al Garcia, who has worked with the correction and parole system. Garcia will screen applicants and provide off-site management. Town officials will be present as well. The public will be invited to ask questions and make comments.
At an April 29 workshop the Town Council discussed options for regulations appropriate for community living facilities. They concluded that more research was needed before any action might be taken, such as placing a 180-day moratorium on group housing. However, any moratorium could be retroactive to April 29.
Federal fair-housing law protects people recovering from substance abuse from discrimination in housing. According to Maine law, community living arrangements for as many as eight people must be treated as single-family housing for purposes of zoning. Residents of boarding houses are also prohibited from discrimination. As a fraternity house, the property in question was considered a boarding house.
Rob Korobkin rents residential buildings in Sanford and Auburn to organizations who run sober houses. His company owns the house in Gorham and will be involved in running the facility, he said. According to Korobkin, Ben Potter, who has worked with people with substance abuse disorders, is living with his family in a duplex on the property and will act as on-site manager. As many as 15 released prisoners may be living at Courage House at one time.
Several Gorham residents spoke at the May 7 Town Council meeting in opposition to the location of Courage House, citing its proximity to a dance studio, day care facilities, stores and restaurants.
Garcia believes that the location is appropriate. “The village location will give residents access to bus transportation, potential jobs, and other necessary services, helping them become successful in their own recovery,” he said.