ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Over 15 women spoke in favor of allowing a sober house specifically for women to open in Dougherty County during Monday’s commission meeting.

A donor who wants to remain anonymous generously gave his house and some of his surrounding land to Motif. The donor believed in the organization’s vision to create a women’s sober house located at 1021 Cordele Road.

The organization’s founders tell WALB that Motif’s goal is to help integrate women who are recovering from addiction back into society.

“We are so woefully underserved in this community for women’s sober living houses. There’s nowhere for women to go. So, with her dream and my get-up-and-go spirit, we are here today,” said Mo Taylor, one of Motif’s founders.

The women who would stay at Motif are recovering addicts who have spent at least 30 days at a rehab facility. Once at the sober house, the women are required to have a full-time job, contribute to house chores, and attend meetings. During their downtime, the women will get involved with the church and help with other community events.

“We want to send back whole women. You know, whole daughters and whole mothers. That’s the entire purpose of this,” said Tiffany Cox, Motif’s co-founder.

“We will give them love, encouragement, support, and every now and again, a good kick in the butt to toe the line because you know, that’s what family does,” continued Mo.

During Monday’s county commission meeting, several residents shared their opinions on opening Motif in their neighborhood.

Those against the sober home had concerns about the women relapsing and committing violent crimes. Some also worry about their property value decreasing.

“I’m opposed to it because it’s gonna lower the value of our property. We spend a lifetime building that property up, taking care of it, getting our pecans up. It’s our life savings; we don’t want it devalued,” said one concerned resident.

“They made it sound like it was a prison. The prison part is them going through hell and back, getting revived after getting it all out of their system. Now, they are coming in to get loved on and to get equipped to get back to the real world. You think that other men and women would want that,” said one resident who is in favor of the sober house.

The Dougherty County Commission will be voting on this issue during their next meeting scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3.

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