Liberty Place

Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women is a long-term substance abuse recovery program for women. This program provides support and hope for women recovering from substance use disorder.

This 108-bed residential substance abuse recovery center is centrally located on Lake Street in Richmond. Liberty Place works to restore opportunities to women by preparing them to lead sober, stable and productive lives. Services provided are free of charge to clients.

The women participating in our program are homeless or marginally housed and unemployed, some come directly from court or jail with the little more than the clothes on their back. All services are provided free of charge to clients. The majority of our clients have no income; nor do they have family members or friends who are able to send them money.

Liberty Place is a very expensive program to operate. We provide all of the essential items each participant needs while they reside at the center. These items include food, clothing, shoes, personal care items as well all recovery educational materials. We also incur significant expense in housekeeping, laundry, and now in response to COVID-19, sanitizing supplies and Personal Protective Equipment such as face masks, vinyl gloves, and protective gowns.

Liberty Place meets the needs of women in KY’s 6th Congressional District (Anderson, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Powell, Scott and Woodford counties).

As a transitional supportive housing development, Liberty Place uses a recovery program model that includes peer support, daily living skills training, job responsibilities and challenges to practice sober living. This unique type of supportive housing and recovery program is proven to help people who face the most complex challenges to live more stable, productive lives.

This project is the result of a joint effort by the Kentucky Housing Corporation, the Kentucky Department for Local Government, the Department of Corrections, and the FHLBank of Cincinnati to build housing recovery centers across the state.

The Recovery Kentucky program emerged in response to the Governor’s Drug Summit Task Force’s assessment that recovery programs were essential if Kentucky was to address the escalating drug epidemic facing all regions of the state. The goal of the program is to have at least two centers in each congressional district. Half of the centers are for women and half for men. Residents must make the commitment to overcome substance use disorder, be over the age of 18 and be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to participate.

Click here for more information about the Recovery KY Program

Liberty Place is in constant need of women’s clothing, personal items and household items. Please see the agency’s wish list for a comprehensive list of these items. Your contribution will make a difference in the lives of many women.

Liberty Place opened on June 30, 2008. As it is a 4 part program, the residents progress from Safe off the Streets where they live in a dormitory, into Motivational Track, where they start out living in another dorm and then move to a shared 2 person studio apartment, and then into Phase 1 which is the longest component of the program. Phase 1 and Phase 2 (transitional) clients remain in the 2 person studio apartments until they complete the program.

Safe Off the Street (SOS): Residents are screened by a telephone interview. Screenings determine appropriateness. Staff begins obtaining background information on residents. This includes resident history of addiction, family social history of their experience with alcohol and/or drugs, criminal justice system, etc. Residents are educated about the model that will help them live a sober life and are introduced to others that are living a life in recovery. They begin attending 12 Step meetings. SOS is a 16-bed dormitory.

Motivational Tracks I and 2
MT1: MT1 is also a 16-bed dormitory. Residents are now working on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Residents begin attending Recovery Dynamics and Criminal Thinking (also referred to as “Errors in Thinking”) classes. They begin to study the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and look for a 12 Step sponsor. Residents begin working on homework assignments. Residents begin to trudge. Trudging shows a motivation to recovery. Residents commit to a new way of life. Classes are held off-site and residents are required to “trudge” (walk) to their destinations. Residents are asked to show at least the same motivation for their recovery as they did their addiction. Resident success is based on individual commitment to recovery. Through actions and activities residents must show a commitment to working the program. NOTE: Due to COVID-19 residents are not trudging right now.

MT2: Residents transition from the MT1 Dormitory into an apartment on the premises. This is called transitional housing. If a resident has income, they are required to pay 30% for their housing (including family sending spending money). However, most residents will not have any income at all. Residents are still trudging. Residents gain incentives for showing a willingness to invest in change.

Phase 1: On the premises, residents now live in the community. Residents no longer trudge. Residents begin working on assignments in the community. These assignments or “jobs” include gardening, maintenance, housekeeping, laundry, kitchen, etc. Jobs are rotated every four weeks. Most of the work that goes on within the facility is performed by the residents. This teaches residents to become accountable and responsible for their daily living. Residents learn to hold themselves accountable for their actions and the actions of their sisters through community living and community meetings. Community meetings are where all issues and concerns within the house are discussed and addressed. Issues are things the resident brings up about themselves. Concerns are things the resident brings up about their sisters. Nothing (no issue or concern) is insignificant. Residents receive additional privileges that include overnight and weekend passes. Note: Due to COVID-19 passes are on hold.

Phase 2: Residents seek employment. Residents may become peer mentors for residents in the motivational or recovery phase of the program or may seek employment in the community. Residents work on maintaining sobriety, attend self-help meetings and participate in follow-up. As they progress, residents petition to move off-site and describe their plan of action for living as sober, productive members of society. Residents are still expected to participate in all program components including self-help and group meetings. Residents who complete this program and stay in compliance can always consider the program their home and can always return for support.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.The Twelve Traditions accompany the Twelve Steps. They provide guidelines for group governance.

The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

1.   Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
2. For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as he may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups of A.A. as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose–to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections has zero tolerance for all forms of sexual conduct between offenders, staff, volunteers, contractors, or visitors. To report any incident of a sexual assault or sexual harassment involving an offender, call the PREA hotline toll free at 1-833-DOC-PREA (1-833-362-7732).  You may choose to remain anonymous. Reports of sexual abuse or sexual harassment that involve possible criminal behavior will be referred to the Kentucky Department of Corrections or the Kentucky State Police for investigation.

PREA Audit Report Liberty Place 2021

PREA Report for Annual Report 2020-2021

Thank you for your interest in supporting Liberty Place Recovery Recovery Center for Women. We cherish our funding and funders.

You can also shop from our Amazon Wish List (items will be shipped directly to us) at Amazon.com.

Click here to make a financial donation.

Wish List
When dropping off donations, ring the front door bell.  A staff member will accept your donation and provide you with a receipt.  

• Feminine Hygiene Products
• Socks
• Underwear (cotton, modest cut preferred)
• Walking Shoes (new or gently used)
• Over the Counter Medicines (Ibuprofen, cough drops, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol)
• School and office supplies
• Hygiene Products (no alcohol is the first 3 ingredients and no aerosol cans please)
• Razors
• Women’s Clothing (gently used and in-season preferred)
• Hand Soap
• Backpacks
• Umbrellas/ponchos
• Sunscreen
• Laundry Detergent (HE only please)
• Dryer Sheets
• Scrubs (gently used, great need for plus size)

Click here for an admission screening form.

For more information contact:
Alisha Wilhoit
Liberty Place Director
218 Lake Street
Richmond, KY 40475
Phone: (859) 625-0104
Fax: (859) 625-0188