Rehab facility set to open in Kingwood neighborhood
It is a small neighborhood but it's part of greater Kingwood, which also makes it part of the city of Houston. There is an elementary school about a mile away and that raises the concern level for some parents. However, the operation says it's tailoring its clientele to alleviate those concerns.
Until this summer, the 6,000 square-foot home had been empty, so the Directions of Recovery Company leased it.
"When I walked in here I was just in a complete sense of peace," said John Reynolds.
Reynolds will be the facility manager for what is planned to be the Kingwood Recovery Center. It's designed for 16 male clients without criminal records and have the insurance or resources to pay for alcohol or prescription drug rehab.
"They'll be pilots, railroad engineers, doctors, lawyers -- the full gamut, the people you can't put into a psychiatric hospital-type setting," Reynolds said.
The house sits on an acre and on the edge of a neighborhood just across the street from Jerry Gholston.
"I think that's ridiculous in a neighborhood like this -- it's crazy," Gholston said.
And that's some of the concern being voiced, it's a neighborhood.
"With children and it's right in the middle of a residential neighborhood," neighbor Nancy Dupelchin said.
The facility has its permits and license. The manager is awaiting furniture and eventually clients, and he hopes a working relationship with the neighborhood.
"We're going to be very quiet and low key. We'll be the best of neighbors; they won't even know we're here," Reynolds said.
The manager also says the clients will be screened before they're admitted to the facility.