Cedars, December 2019

by Lydia Switzer I n 2017, Montgomery County, Ohio, was named the overdose capital of the Unit- ed States. Cedarville, Xenia and Beaver- creek lie right next door. These towns, while smaller than Dayton, have also experienced the devastation of addiction: damaged rela- tionships, broken families and lost lives. As a graduate of Cedarville University, professor of social work and resident of Xe- nia, Sandi Wagner has seen firsthand the ef- fects of substance abuse in the community. “There has been a growing need be- cause we are a suburb of Dayton and Dayton is the opioid overdose capital in the nation, and that ripples into the surrounding com- munities,” Wagner said. The idea for Her Story House began with Wagner’s friend, Whitney Caudill. Caudill also has experience in social work and came into contact with a mother on her caseload who was ready to escape her ad- diction. However, Caudill could not find a place for this woman to stay that didn’t have requirements such as a 30-day sobriety pe- riod, and so she came to Wagner for help. “We really just wanted to focus on this mom getting help, and there wasn’t any- where,” Wagner recalled. They soon realized that this woman was not alone. They began brainstorming ways to fill the treatment gap they had wit- nessed “between when a homeless woman says she wants treatment, and when she’s actually able to get into it,” as Wagner put it. After two years of preparing and fund- raising, Her Story House opened in Xenia in August of 2018, funded entirely by dona- tions. This fall, Her Story was honored by the state of Ohio Addiction Policy Forum with the Innovation Now award. When a woman is ready to fight an ad- diction and enter into sobriety, she can con- December 2019 4 CAMPUS Her Story Honored by State of Ohio Cedarville social work professor committed to rehabilitation for local women Photo provided by Sandi Wagner From left, Dr. Beth Delaney, Whitney Caudill, Sandi Wagner, and Brandy Gleason enjoy some time together at the Ohio Statehouse where they were given the Innovation Now award.