Olympia sober-living home for women, kids gets some help of its own

A century-old house in Olympia is getting a makeover, in keeping with the fresh start the home offers its residents.

The Mollie B. house at the corner of Olympia and Puget streets has an obscure history, including the origin of its name. But its current mission is crystal clear: It’s an Oxford House, a sober-living home for women and children.

The home is owned by Homes First, an organization that provides affordable housing for people in need.

“We’re repainting the entire inside, gutting and redoing a bathroom, removing an upstairs kitchen and returning that space to a bedroom, stripping tile and carpet and refinishing the fir floors,” said Matt Newton, project manager for Homes First.

The money comes from the Homes First general fund.

To get it done, Newton is organizing a team of volunteers and contractors. They’re on a tight timeline. The eight women and three children who live in the Mollie B. house are moving into another Oxford House for seven weeks while the work is completed.

Resident Suzanne Coultard lives in a large upstairs bedroom. Sober for two years, she has weekend visitation with her 6-year-old son.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for people working the program,” she said as she showed off the home. The large kitchen has several refrigerators, and residents are hoping to find room for a second stove after the removal of the upstairs kitchen.

Two large living rooms with high ceilings are casually divided into spaces for children and adults. A wide staircase ends on a second floor landing leading to more bedrooms. The house has been added on to over the decades and floors go off at odd slants here and there.

In the upstairs hall, layers of paint cover cracking wallpaper.

“We’ll have to do some patching here,” Newton said. He added that tearing through to remove the wallpaper wasn’t feasible.

Newton explained the scope of the project to volunteers at the Homes First office. Sheri LeMay, branch manager for Washington State Employees Credit Union, was there, as were retirees Glen Hubbard and Dan Jorgensen. Hubbard and Jorgensen do other volunteer work in the community and WSECU gives employees eight hours of paid time for community service.

After going over the project timeline, Newton talked about safety.

“You always bleed a little bit on a project when you’re doing demo work,” he said, explaining that a first-aid station would be set up.

Although she has to move out temporarily, Coultard is eager to return to Mollie B.

“We love the neighborhood. It’s just off the bus line. We like being close to downtown. My son loves Old School Pizza,” she said.

Everyday activities like going out to pizza are part of the mission of Oxford House. Andrea Clancy has been sober for two years and two months. She lives at Mollie B. with her 2-year-old son, Dylan.

“This place saved my life,’ she said. “I’m learning how to live sober.”

“This place is hope,” Coultard said.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Olympia sober-living home for women, kids gets some help of its own."