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The Cedar House in Abilene, KS - Recovery Begins Here

The Cedar House in Abilene, KS - Recovery Begins Here

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The Nicest Place in Kansas: Cedar House in Abilene

July 13, 2019 By CedarHouseAB

Courtesy of Reader’s Digest

When this town helped women struggling with addiction get back on their feet, they repaid the favor.

In 2012, Patti O’Malley and her son were going through recovery for opioid addiction together when her son relapsed and drove his car off a bridge just five miles from their home in Abilene, Kansas. When she lost him, she knew she had to do something.

“I began reaching out to other women, saying, ‘Let’s talk about addiction,’” O’Malley says. She opened her home to groups of women suffering with substance abuse themselves. Then she did the unimaginable: She gave her home to the women in her group. They needed a place to stay after completing 30-day rehab programs.

“The only place they know to go back to after rehab is where they’ve come from,” O’Malley says. “Now we take them door-to-door, from rehab to the Cedar House.”

O’Malley built herself a new home while turning what would become Cedar House into a six-bed facility that focuses on hope, healing ,and giving back to the surrounding community of Abilene, a rural cattle-yard town of some 7,000, famous for being the childhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Cedar House now boasts a local food bank and a micro-farm with a greenhouse, which delights locals with its exotic flora.

“They have brought things to Kansas that most have never tried to grow,” says resident Loressa Nordgren. “They grow banana plants and loofahs that you use when you shower.”

And they’re growing one more thing there, to the delight of all: puppies!

Read the rest of the article at Reader’s Digest >

Filed Under: Blog, Latest News

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“When I first came to The Cedar House I had no idea what a true friend really was ever in my life. Sure I had friends in high school but they were never there when things got rough. I’m the first girl ever who has been able to leave and come back into the house and with that being said these girls have shown me what a real friend is. They saved my life AGAIN. This program is about progress and learning to care for others, taking the ism (I, self, and me) out of alcoholism. There is so much more to learn and every day is a new beginning. I just hope and pray these friendships will always stay.” – Kelsie

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