For years, residents of Southwest Colorado struggling with addiction had no choice but to travel more than a hundred miles to access long-term sober living.
For some, that degree of separation was necessary. For others, it entailed leaving behind friends, family and a familiar setting during one of life’s most challenging chapters. And that was assuming they could afford it.
As of this month, however, another option has emerged for Southwest Coloradans seeking sobriety. Donna Mae Baukat, who opened Southwest Colorado’s first recovery residence in Durango, is the first to acknowledge it is a small first step toward improving the region’s treatment landscape.
A recovery residence, sometimes called a “sober house,” must meet these requirements per Colorado law:
- Is free from alcohol and non-prescribed or illicit drugs.
- Promotes independent living and life skill development.
- Provides structured activities and recovery support services primarily intended to promote recovery from substance use.
The male-only house is a three-bedroom single-family home currently occupied by two residents who arrived in mid-July. Rent is $900. The two residents living there now were previously experiencing homelessness, however, the house is open to anyone struggling with addiction who has stopped using and is no longer experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
With two beds per room, the house is equipped to handle up to six residents in the Crestview neighborhood.
Baukat’s new business, In His Time LLC, operates the house.
Previously, the closest recovery residence in the state was located more than 150 miles away in Alamosa.
Taylor Wright, director of Expansion & Development for the Colorado Agency for Recovery Residences, the certifying body for recovery residences in Colorado, said his agency recognizes four levels of recovery residence based on the intensity of care. Baukat’s residence is the second lowest, Level 2.
Level 1 recovery residences are run by residents themselves with limited supervision, whereas Level 2 residences have a point of contact between residents and the operator, in this case, a “senior resident” appointed by Baukat.
“With these peer-run models, there’s not as much quality assurance as with what a Level 2 program with a designated point of contact has to offer,” Wright said.
Baukat’s recovery residence, like most, also has “house rules” intended to hold residents accountable for their recoveries.
For example, residents are required to actively seek employment or be enrolled in education, attend counseling and regularly meet with certified peer supporters from Community Compassion Outreach as well as meticulously track and back these activities with signatures from employers, educators, counselors and peer supporters.
Additionally, Baukat said residents may be subject to random Breathalyzer tests and/or urine analyses. Failure to adhere to house rules or breaking sobriety may be grounds for eviction.
Southwest Colorado is a resource desert for substance use treatment, and for years organizations such as the SouthWest Opioid Response District have tried expanding the continuum of care available to the region’s residents.
Despite their best efforts, progress has been slow and treatment options have mostly remained limited to the services offered by Axis Health System, including monitored social detox, 12-step meetings hosted by Axis and the Animas Alano Club, and intensive outpatient treatment, the highest level of care locally available.
Wright said Southwest Colorado’s sparse population density and rural layout combined with high housing costs in urban areas contribute to the parched treatment landscape and especially the difficulty of establishing recovery residences.
Baukat’s recently opened recovery residence – small as it may be – fills a crucial role previously missing from the treatment landscape.
In 2022, the state passed Colorado Senate Bill 22-196, “Health Needs Of Persons In Criminal Justice System,” which appropriated money to establish 25 recovery residences in counties identified by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration as most in need.
Since 2018, Baukat has provided services for Durango residents experiencing poverty or homelessness through her nonprofit, Community Compassion Outreach. Her work attracted the attention of the Colorado Agency for Recovery Residences, which approached her earlier this year and asked her to spearhead the creation of Southwest Colorado’s first recovery residence.
After meeting Baukat, Wright said it was obvious “she had a passion for the homeless community, in particular those that struggle with substance-use disorder.”
Baukat then scoured the Durango rental market for months and was rejected by more than 15 different homeowners.
“I prayed and I said, ‘Lord, this is yours, you told me to do this.’ A week later, I got two owners of homes who were very open,” she said.
The Colorado Agency for Recovery Residences paid for the first and last months’ rent on Baukat’s newly leased property, and they will eventually reimburse her for the cost of refurnishing and refurbishing the home, Wright said.
One of the residents, “Ao,” who declined to give his full name, lived in an RV for two years before coming to Baukat’s recovery residence. He described living in his vehicle with holes in the roof and black mold in the walls as never-ending stress about where it was safe to park and whether he would end up unsheltered.
“It’s hard to put into words, but I feel very blessed, very fortunate and very thankful for the opportunity to be in this position that Donna Mae has provided,” he said of his new home.
Baukat, age 79, said she chose to embark on this new enterprise, “because I have such a close relationship with Jesus. I felt that this is a calling. Like the story of Sarah and Abraham when she was called to have a child in her old age.”
nmetcalf@durangoherald.com