The Women’s Program at Horizon Village

Horizon believes so strongly in the need for women-specific programming that it added a 3,100-square-foot wing to Horizon Village, its intensive residential facility in Sanborn. The new wing includes rooms designed to hold women-specific activities and classes, and a lounge and family visitation area. With the addition of the new wing, Horizon Village is able to enhance its current program to include women-only individual and group counseling, education and support services.

According to Paige Prentice, director of Horizon Village, part of the reason for the addition of the wing was that it will better meet the needs of the women residents at Horizon Village, based on a poll that was conducted. Roughly one-third of the residents at Horizon Village are women.

“Women have greater self-esteem and image issues, and are more concerned about privacy,” says Paige. “Research indicates women will open up more and be more productive in recovery when they are around other women rather than mixed in with the men.”

The staff at Horizon Village are now able to explore more women-oriented issues that affect addiction, such as self-esteem issues, societal expectations, health issues, parenting and mentoring and how addiction impacts the children.

“We want to break down the barriers for these women,” says Paige. “We want to encourage them to think beyond their current thoughts about themselves, to explore their options and capitalize on their strengths. We’ll be able to better orient our programs to do just that.”

“Our program will grow and evolve based on the needs of our women residents,” says Paige. “We will be in a better position to help them cope once they leave our program.”