This week on Street Stories, John Villella and I head north to Woonsocket’s Butterfly House.

 

 

Long before renovations started on the antique mansion, the streets were home for Roxxanne Hatch who didn’t laugh much unless there was a needle nearby.

  

Getting locked up did not mean getting locked away from her addiction.

 

“You can get drugs (in the ACI),” she told us. “In minimum, where everyone doing five years and under can go, it’s very easy.”

 

She got out clean and found a place to stay that way in an unexpected corner of Woonsocket; The mansion that was home to the state’s 51st governor, Aram Pothier.

  

“I think it might be 14 rooms,” we were told during a quick tour.

  

While there are sober houses around the state that are just for men, this is one of the only places that are just for women.

  

Norman Zolkos bought the landmark last year to fill that void.

  

“When a woman has something going on, they want to talk to another woman. A guy can’t give the best advice.”

  

Zolkos wanted to give something back after his own recovery.

  

“This is a disease that kills the majority of the people who have it,” he says.

 

I feel safe in my house,” Hatch tells us. “I can be comfortable and relaxed and that’s important to me.”

 

As the renovations continue, the hope is to uncover some grants and create room for a dozen women. They will either pay their own way or work it off in the mansion where some claim, Governor Pothier still visits.

 

“It he is, he’s not bothering me.” Hatch says with a laugh. ”He’s not interrupting my sobriety.”

 

The need for places like The Butterfly House is said to be vital for women like Roxxanne who are tested by their own ghosts every day.

 

“If I didn’t have God and my support system, I would’ve gone back out into the streets,” she says. “I believe we really have to get in the prison system and help these women.”

 

They hope to one day fill all the rooms but the problem right now is funding. No bailouts available for a place like this, at least not yet.

 

Take a look at this Street Story on video by hitting this link.

 

http://www.wpri.com/subindex/on_air/street_stories 

 

 

Ideas? They’re always welcome.