At odds over addiction recovery homes | Morning Newsletter

Wake up, Philly. It’s a damp, drizzly Sunday with a chilly high near 56.

Heard about the solar storm causing glorious displays of northern lights across much of the globe this weekend, even some parts of the Southern United States? Yes, some lucky people got to say, ”Aurora borealis! At this time of year, in this part of the country!” Too bad that cloud cover ruined Philly’s chances of a show ... but at least we can gaze at the vibrantly striking snaps of the skies.

It’s Mother’s Day, and while some are celebrating by treating their beloved maternal figures to brunch, this can be a hard holiday for others. It’s especially difficult for those dealing with complicated feelings of loss. In today’s newsletter, you’ll find an important story on the struggle to become a mom.

But first, dive into our main read on a quiet Delco neighborhood sounding alarms over an addiction recovery home expanding in their community.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Savage Sisters, a nonprofit organization for people with addiction, runs nine recovery homes in Philadelphia and is looking to expand an existing facility in Delaware County.

These houses are designed to support people who are no longer using drugs. But the group knows all too well that addiction treatment can be controversial.

Catch up quick: In Philadelphia, Savage Sisters drew pushback from a City Council member over its services intended to reduce the harmful effects of opioid use. Now, the nonprofit faces outcry from suburban neighbors, including some who support addiction recovery homes in theory — just not in their backyard.

Sarah Laurel, executive director of Savage Sisters, stresses that their rehabilitation homes are separate from the nonprofit’s harm-reduction program.

Savage Sisters wants to increase the number of residents from three to eight in a large, single-family house in Havertown. To do this, they need an exemption to a zoning variance that prohibits more than three unrelated people from living in the same home.

Neighbors have not yet spoken publicly at zoning meetings, but anonymous users on social media express concerns that the home could become a revolving door for former drug users.

Supporters say the home is providing a service that’s in demand in the area. Preliminary state data show that 155 died of overdoses in Delaware County in 2022, and 197 in 2021.

Notable quote: “It’s not a city problem only, it’s a suburban problem,” Havertown resident Larry Arata, director of the Opioid Crisis Action Network nonprofit, said of opioid addiction. His son, Brendan, died of an overdose in 2017.

Read on to learn more about the strict protocols in Savage Sisters’ recovery homes and more on the zoning conflict.

🎤 I’m passing the mic to The Inquirer’s politics editor Laura McCrystal.

Each Mother’s Day for the last four years, I’ve thought, “I really hope I’ll be a mom by next year.” And for years, it hasn’t happened.

Finally, after a long wait, I am pregnant. But I will spend the holiday thinking of those yearning to be a mom, wishing they could give their child a sibling, mourning a lost baby, or those who are childless not by choice.

And the grief, pain, and medical procedures it took to become a mother will stay with me — as will the heartbreak I felt at seeing Mother’s Day card displays, the times that walking by an aisle of baby items at Target made me cry, and the many days I was too sad to leave the house.

Since Mother’s Day 2020, my husband and I have endured one early pregnancy loss, countless medical tests and doctors visits, and four rounds of in vitro fertilization — each of which involved giving myself shots for two weeks to stimulate my ovaries, then having surgery to remove my eggs and fertilize them with my husband’s sperm.

Five different times, doctors inserted an embryo created via IVF into my uterus. Each time, the pregnancy test was negative. The sense of loss was overwhelming. I’d cry for days, and I lost trust in my own body.

Infertility affects one in six people, and one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. So even if you haven’t dealt with infertility, chances are you know someone who has. And for an experience that is so common, our society doesn’t talk about it nearly enough. So I’ve decided to start talking about it. — Laura McCrystal

Keep reading Laura’s story for more on her personal experience. Whatever your situation looks like this year, I’m sending you love and a warm hug. And a special thanks to all the strong, super moms and maternal figures out there.

An amateur art historian claims that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is home to a mistakenly attributed painting that may have actually been crafted by which famous artist?

A) Georgia O’Keeffe

B) Vincent van Gogh

C) Frida Kahlo

D) Leonardo da Vinci

Think you know? Check your answer.

Hint: This Phillies player sadly lost his lifelong furry companion, Tiger, on Friday morning. That night, in an 8-2 win over the Marlins, he honored Tiger with a solo home run. 🐶

CLANK COASTLINES

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Sharon Caine who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Dad Vail. The 85th edition of the annual rowing event is happening this weekend in Pennsauken.

🛶 See more images by staff photographer Jose F. Moreno from the Dad Vail Regatta here. And for those of you interested in fun adventures like this, look forward to the return of The Inquirer’s free Outdoorsy newsletter on June 7, penned by yours truly. Be sure to sign up here so we can make the most of your time outside this season!

🎶 Today’s Sunday track goes like this: “Because there’s no explaining what your imagination can make you see and feel.”

👋🏽 Take care and have a good day. On my to-do list: spring clean, read this sweet story about the Phillies’ Jose Alvarado and his mom, and give mi mami a phone call to thank her, among other things, for introducing me to Fleetwood Mac.