Haverford Sober House Group Founder Decries 'Dehumanizing' Critics

HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP, PA — Last week, a Haverford Township Zoning Hearing Board meeting was packed with residents. So crowded that some attendees were relegated to the floor, doorways, and more.

The issue at hand are two variances sought by the renters of 17 Tenby Road in Havertown. One is about allowing more than three unrelated people to live in the property, and the other is about parking.

But the real issue for residents is the nature of the property.

It's rented by Savage Sisters, a Philadelphia-based non-profit group that provides various resources for people battling addiction.

Savage Sisters began renting the property in October 2023 after it was allocated funding from the massive opioid lawsuit settlement, found Sarah Laurel told Patch. Since its acquisition, 17 Tenby Road has served as a sober house, where three men including a house manager live at the moment, and has had no complaints, Laurel said.

Laurel will testify at an April 25 zoning hearing, and she hopes the variance process moves ahead swiftly and in the group's favor so they can better serves the sons and daughters of Delaware County who are working through addiction recovery.

And that's partly why the resistance to the sober house is so shocking to her.

"The people who have contacted us about housing in Delaware County are from Delaware County who don't want to be in Philadelphia," she said.

Savage Sisters Director of Operations Adam Al-Asad represented the group alongside attorney Robert Deluca at last week's meeting, which included attorneys arguing for and against the variances.

Philadelphia-based attorney Jennifer Bazydlo was at the meeting representing a resident of 22 Tenby Road, and questioned Al-Asad for about an hour and a half.

Patch has reached out to Jennifer Bazydlo for comment, but had not received a response as of publication time.

Laurel described Bazydlo's language as "offensive" and "dehumanizing" when discussing addiction.

"Adam can hold his own, Laurel said. "He helped build this program. All the safety measures we have for our residents, he understands them.

"Regardless of the attorney's approach, there was a certain point where she challenged what quality of life was affected by the disease of addiction," Laurel said. "This is not a supreme court justice hearing questioning the [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition], it's a zoning hearing."

She said Bazydlo was grandstanding for "optics to confuse and create more misinformation around the work we’re doing" that boiled down to bullying a grassroots operation aimed at helping vulnerable people.

"It was not ethical for her to question the validity of it in that setting," she said. "Adam went up to discuss housing, and had to explain the validity of addiction. That is inappropriate."

Laurel also took issue with Bazydlo bringing up Savage Sister's violations issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

Those violations, she said, were all administrative. One violation was related to the formatting of a spreadsheet and another was about the group's program manager requiring CPR and HIV/Hepatitis C testing.

In fact, Laurel said she was part of the charge to bolstering the department's licensing requirements for sober houses, having been in unsafe sober houses during her own recovery.

Residents of 17 Tenby Road, as with all other Savage Sisters property residents, complete intake forms, are subject to frequent, random drug screening, and more. Residents live independently, but must follow all guidelines set forth by the group.

"[Bazydlo] made it sound like we're a trap house," Laurel said. "We are the ones who begged for more oversight of housing programs because they were unsafe."

Laurel also said Bazydlo caused more offense by citing the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act as impetuses for removing residents due to Savage Sisters anticipating its residents suffer relapses.

"Nothing in the ADA of FHA that states a relapse or recurrence of drugs would negate protection under those mandates," Laurel said. "It was hurtful."

The discussion on the variances sought for 17 Tenby Road will continue in April.

Laurel is hoping the property will soon be operating at full capacity to better serve Delaware County residents who are in recovery.

Watch the meeting below:

Editor's note: a previous version of this story incorrectly listed Savage Sisters as the owner of 17 Tenby Road. Savage Sisters rents the property.