Home for struggling women to rebuild, improve lives approved in Arnold
Share this post:
Arnold officials have approved a woman’s plan to turn a house in the city into a place where struggling women can be safe while rebuilding their lives.
The three-member zoning hearing board attached several conditions to its approval of city resident Amanda Wheeler’s use of the house in the 1700 block of Fourth Avenue for her transitional housing program The Battle Life.
Wheeler said she did not object to any of the conditions at the board’s hearing Tuesday.
While resident Shasaun Dixon suggested Wheeler should focus on helping children, Dixon and three others attending the board’s public hearing did not speak against the proposal.
“What you’re presenting to Arnold by far is an extraordinary idea,” Dixon said. “I think it’s so brave of you.”
Wheeler plans to open the house by early July. It would accommodate up to five women at a time, ages 24 and older, who would live there for at least six months and up to two years.
“If you sign up for the program, you’re signing up because you need the help,” she said. “You can’t do help within a couple days, you can’t do help in a couple weeks or a couple months. That’s just unrealistic if you’re being honest with yourself.”
Wheeler, 33, is a certified health and life coach with a background in health care and nursing. She wants to create a safe, stable and nurturing environment where women overcoming addiction, mental health struggles, incarceration and other hardships can learn skills and get help to rebuild their lives, rediscover their purpose and come out stronger.
“The goal is to get you on your own, to be able to get a house and be stable,” she said.
The Fourth Avenue house she owns is perfect, Wheeler said, because it’s near bus lines, libraries, schools and stores.
“This home, I feel like it was God’s calling because I’ve looked at other places,” she said. “I even went to Lower Burrell, I was over in Natrona Heights, and nothing seemed suitable until I came across this property and the layout and how everything was presented to me it kind of felt right.”
Services would include job placement help, life skills development, resume building and counseling.
Residents would not have to pay to be there, but would be required to save 20% of their income for when they move out. They would need to have a job or be in school working toward a career, while also handling household chores.
“This home is not just a place to lay your head, but a sanctuary to heal, grow and discover your worth,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler plans to pay for the housing and services by applying for federal and state funding. She is working out those details with an adviser, she said.
Conditions to be met
Conditions the board applied to the house are that Wheeler get all required licensing to operate from the city, county, state and federal governments; comply with all Arnold ordinances and codes; that the house have a licensed manager there at all times; have at least one off-street parking space per three beds; that it be limited to “non-felonious” women age 24 and older; that there be a midnight curfew; no signage more than 16 square feet; no weapons or drugs would be allowed; no noise beyond the house after 10 p.m.; and giving the names of all intended residents to the city police chief for screening before admission.
Wheeler’s plans would meet many of those conditions, including having a 24-7 manager, a midnight curfew and a zero tolerance policy for weapons, drugs and violence.
Wheeler is uncertain whether she will have any signs identifying the house and why its residents are there.
“A lot of people prey on people when they think they’re helpless,” she said. “I want them to feel like that is home and not just a program.”
Residents would not be allowed visitors without approval, and no boyfriends will be allowed, Wheeler said.
Wheeler said she’d be at the house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Residents would have daily coaching with her.
Wheeler plans to use a detached garage behind the house as an office, where she would offer life coaching appointments to anyone 13 or older.
Zoning hearing board Solicitor Larry Loperfito said the use of the garage would be a separate issue that will need its own review and approval from the city, including compliance with building codes.
Wheeler’s proposed use of the garage would be allowed, said Rick Rayburg, the city’s community development director and zoning officer. It would need its own off-street parking separate from that needed for the house.
Wheeler said she’ll comply with all regulations and codes.
“I grew up here, I’ve went to church here, I’ve played at the parks and my son is being raised here,” she said. “I want to give people the opportunity to have a second chance in a community that gets talked down upon. New Kensington and Arnold doesn’t get the best rep, but a lot of good people come from here.”