Recovery Group Ends Havertown Pursuit, Aims To Educate Community Now

HAVERTOWN, PA — Rent, utilities, and legal fees have led Philadelphia-based Savage Sisters Recovery to forgo its Havertown sober house and the zoning variances it sought for the property. But its founder says the group's work in Havertown and Haverford is not done.

Savage Sisters was renting a house at 17 Tenby Road in Havertown to serve as a sober living residence for men who were working to overcome substance abuse disorder.

Founder Sarah Laurel told Patch that just four men were living there, and due to rent, utility, and legal costs, the group has moved out of the property.

Laurel said sober living is best done in settings with numerous residents who share the same goal and hoped to get a zoning variance at the property to increase the number of tenants living there.

The request was met with strong community backlash and led to lengthy hearings before the Haverford Township Zoning Hearing Board.

Attorney Jennifer Bazydlo represented a resident of 22 Tenby Road during the proceedings.

Patch has reached out to Bazydlo for comment on Savage Sisters' decision to rescind its zoning variance request, but has not received a response as of publication time.

Laurel said despite the setback in Havertown, she wants to host a listening session in the area to help dispel stigma around addition and recovery.

"Just because there's no [sober] house in Havertown doesn't me we can't tackle stigma," she said.

She said the group had success at a listening session at Willowbrook Farms in Malvern, which had about 125 attendees from the Main Line and surrounding areas.

"Some people are really unaware because their neighborhoods are beautiful," Laurel said of local addiction issues.

While some people may be well-meaning in their actions and words, she said others can see addiction as "trauma porn," showcasing the pain and trauma of addition for the sake of entertainment.

Laurel also said despite many people's support of recovery efforts, a large contingency of those people do not want recovery services near their homes.

That becomes an issue, she said, when people like the men who were living at the Tenby Road residence must live in places such as Philadelphia for their recovery, despite being local to Delaware County.

"They were not exactly thrilled to leave Havertown," she said of the Tenby Road residents.

One of those men, she said, moved back in with family members and has since relapsed.

"The fight is not over, it never is," Laurel said. "We just have to take a different angle."