The faith based “Women at the Well” house is now open under new management in Corsica in Jefferson County.
“The previous director retired and the building was closed for a year,” said Melany Rhoades of Brookville. “I came on board in February. There was no one here so I had to set up the program.”
Women at the Well Ministries of Pennsylvania is a 12-month residential discipleship program that offers a second chance at life for women 18 or older struggling with life controlling issues such as addiction, past traumas and self harm, according to the agency’s website.
“We have a curriculum and personal and group Christian studies,” said Rhoades. “The personal study is a self-paced course. They can work on it for an hour a day and for an hour or hour and a half they work on the other part of it.”
The “other part” deals with life issues.
“We want to teach them the truth and how to apply that to their daily life,” said Rhoades. “They will need to know how to cook, clean, maybe make a garden and care for a vehicle. They are going to learn how to take care of a home.”
Entry into the program is voluntary. Clients must be at least 18, and there is a $300 per month fee to enroll in the program.
While they are going through the program they will stay at the Women at the Well house under 24-hour supervision. They can stay at the house for 12 months.
“I am working on a transition part to this program so that maybe they will stay a little longer than 12 months. I would like to help them find a job,” said Rhoades.
“We want to teach them how to do resumes, interviews, how to work. It is not only study but teaching them life skills,” she said.
Staffing can be a challenge for a group home.
Volunteers help fill the gap, Rhoades said.
Feeding six people three meals a day can be expensive, and Rhoades said the agency gets support from the food banks in Clarion and Brookville.”
Women at the Well opened its doors to students in 2001 in Athens, Tennessee. The agency came to Pennsylvania in 2011 and began receiving clients in 2014.
Rhoades can be contacted at (814) 379-993 or at www.WomenAtTheWellPA.com.