CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF EMPOWERING WOMEN

The Women’s Recovery Center was originally established as the Westside Women’s Center in early 1986. Located on Storer Avenue in the Stockyards neighborhood of Cleveland, OH, the organization provided a safe and non-judgmental space for women from the near Westside of the city to find support and assistance. Here a group of social service agencies came together in one convenient place for those in need. Each agency provided specific programming and each agency held a seat on the Board.

We currently provide services for women from Cuyahoga, Summit, and Lorain Counties. Our addiction and substance abuse treatment programs are successfully impacting women and their families that suffer from addiction and substance abuse. We provide them with the necessary skills for life-long recovery.

In 1989, under the leadership of Claire Farnsworth, the Westside Women’s Center joined a national network of women’s sports festivals entitled “run, jane, run.” This name derives from a series of old schoolbook readers. The stories in these books portray Jane as passive and deferential. She can only “Look, Jane, Look” as Dick and Spot run, play ball, and have adventures. Jane is no longer on the sidelines and we see “run-jane-run”. These multi-event festivals raised funds for women’s groups though out the country.

Nickie Antonio became the Executive Director in 1990 and under her direction the Center became a certified alcohol and drug addiction treatment center. It was also the first to provide counseling for women living with HIV and AIDS. The first bilingual and bi-cultural HIV program for women was organized. Hard Hatted Women had their offices onsite, and the Center became a stronger referral resource location for women. Nickie remembers those years as a learning experience: “The women who were involved with the Center were incredible human beings! During my years there I learned how to create a welcoming environment, how to give and receive hugs, and how to work with people seeking services.”

In 1997, Mary Jane Chichester took over Center leadership. She was charged with the mission to provide opportunities for women to take greater control over their lives physically, emotionally, and economically. At that point, outpatient substance abuse treatment services were offered for medically indigent women. Childcare services for mothers engaged in treatment were also made available. In 1997, the client capacity was limited to treating 30 women per year for addiction. In 2019 the number increased to 115.

Ashley Yassall was appointed as the Executive Director in 2019. She was previously involved at the Women’s Recovery Center as a Board of Directors member. Ashley plans to expand programming to fully utilize the newly renovated space. She also intends to build strong community partnerships to better serve the Stockyards neighborhood and the Cleveland community.