History

Founded in 1993, First Step Home is a treatment center located in Walnut Hills in Cincinnati. It is the only addiction treatment center in the greater Cincinnati region allowing children, up to the age of 12, to live with their mothers while they are in treatment. First Step Home provides an entire continuum of care to women with substance use disorder (SUD). Our staff work to assist women in rebuilding their families as they break the cycle of drug and alcohol addiction.

That’s when Annie Bennett, our first Executive Director, and a group of founders, set out to change the way our society treated women with addiction and mental health issues. Their idea was modeled after Sojourner Home in Columbus, and Chaney Allen Center in Cincinnati. The founders, most of whom were women and in recovery themselves, knew that treatment for chemical dependency was often more complicated for women. They recognized the importance of the mother's role in breaking the cycle of addiction. And, with the right kind of care, they could help these women and their families re-enter into society with the skills they needed to thrive.

Mary Ann Heekin, Founding Member and first Chair of First Step’s Board of Trustees, explains it like this: “I was in addiction counseling myself and I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go in... But I started working this 24-hour hotline for chemical dependency…And I kept seeing these women who were working to get sober, but had to go back to abusive relationships...I knew a group of women in Columbus who put together a women’s shelter... and I thought ‘why not here?'"

And so, First Step Home was born, taking its own first steps in the rectory of St. Michael's Church in lower Price Hill on a tiny, shoestring budget. At the time, it was the only treatment facility of its kind in Cincinnati to allow women to bring their children, up to the age of twelve, to live with them during treatment. This key difference eliminated what was often a woman’s biggest hurdle to receiving treatment: choosing between getting better, and seeing their children placed in foster care.

Initially, First Step Home’s modest beginnings meant that much of the household and daily need items had to come right from founders’ own kitchens and linen closets. Now, thanks to the generosity of our many donors and partnerships, we have 67 housing beds and 16 residential treatment beds across a large, campus-like environment spanning 12 different buildings. We also have a total of 48 staff members. Since its inception, First Step Home has offered its services to thousands of women and their children.