By Cindy MulletRanger-Review Staff Writer Establishing a sober living home in Glendive is a dream four local women hope to make reality in cooperation with Community GATE and its Prairie Development Center.Marie-Christine Lamphier, Dennise Schaffner, Debi Delamater and Gina Whittle said they saw the need for a place where addicts who are actively working on recovery could live and find support as they transition toward becoming responsible members of the community.The four began meeting at the end of last year to explore possibilities, Whittle said.While working as a counselor at WATCh East, Lamphier saw how hard it was for graduates who finished the six month rehab program to return home and implement what they had learned. They leave the facility and they have no support, she said.Seeing people she knows are struggling with addiction issues prompted Delamater to want to find another resource they could use to overcome their addiction. When they just go home again, it’s so hard for them to be successful, she said.There are other sober living homes in the state but most are in western Montana. The nearest to Glendive are The Lighthouse Recovery Home in Miles City and Irma House in Billings, Lamphier added.As they began looking at sites for a home and at what they would need to do to establish the program, they decided to contact Community GATE to see if they could come under its non-profit status and perhaps find a place for participants in the program to live on the second floor of the PDC, Lamphier said.Community GATE (Giving Assistance Towards Employment) was established in 1996 to address welfare reform. The goal of Community GATE has always been to help people get on their feet again, board member Bruce Smith explained so, when board members were approached about assisting with the sober living home project, responding with an affirmative answer was easy.“It seemed like a no-brainer for us,” he said.When the PDC was purchased plans were made to remodel the offices on the second floor of the building and use them as a dorm facility for students in a culinary program offered through Dawson Community College. Those plans were never realized and board members decided to go ahead with the remodeling but to use the space as transitional housing for people in need, he said.Along with the PDC, Community GATE also sponsors the Farm to Table store, the commercial kitchen, the Saturday farmers’ market and the Western Trails value-added food business. Plans to restart recycling services are also in the works. These programs would provide volunteer opportunities for sober living home residents, Smith noted.Community GATE people have been wonderful to work with, Lamphier said, noting that when people do damage to the community by such activities as selling drugs or driving drunk, giving back to the community through volunteering is part of the recovery progress.When the home opens, strict rules will be enforced, Delamater said. Residents will have to be drug and alcohol free. They will need to find employment, pay rent, attend meetings and volunteer in the community. Random drug tests will be given.“Safety will always be the number one concern,” she said.In looking for participants, the organizers will be working with WATCh East, local probation officers, District II Drug and Alcohol, Alcohol Anonymous meetings and church groups sponsoring recovery programs, she said, adding that everyone they have contacted has been very supportive.Plans call for an AmeriCorp Volunteers in Service to America participant to join the effort at the end of August to help with planning and organizing. The volunteer would also live in the facility, she noted.In establishing the sober living home program, they hope to change some of the stereotypes of addiction. It is important to realize that everyone is touched by addiction at some point, either personally or through the experience of a friend or family member, Lamphier said.Addiction is not just the addict’s problem, it is a community problem and the community needs to be part of the remedy, she added.“People see addiction as so negative,” Delamater said, noting, “I see it as brokenness.”Establishing the home will take a huge commitment from everyone involved and help from anyone willing to be a mentor or willing to help with fund-raising and planning will be welcomed, she added.Reach Cindy Mullet at crmullet@midrivers.com.