Friendship Room in Fairmont, West Virginia, celebrates one year of operation – WV News

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WV News) Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the Friendship Room in downtown Fairmont, which was celebrated Wednesday morning by the Marion County Commission.

The Friendship Room was established on Nov. 19, 2019, as an extension of Milan Puskar Health Rights Morgantown program, and exists as a drop-in service that gives those experiencing homelessness or drug addiction a place to go during the day.

Friendship Fairmont program coordinator Rochelle Satterfield said that she expected to serve maybe 50 people per month with the service, but said she was blown away by the number of people who have taken advantage of the room.

Since we have started, we have seen 20 to 25 people a day, Satterfield told the commission. (We saw) a record high last month, assisting 280 individuals in October. We could not have done with without the wonderful area the county commission has helped us with.

Those who visit the Friendship Room have a number of resources at their disposal, including meetings with a peer recovery coach and services that allow participants to attain their birth certificates, Social Security cards and more, as well as access to the housing process.

Satterfield said that being able to help so many people over the last year is a great feeling, and she encouraged anyone else facing similar issues to stop by.

Its an amazing feeling to be able to provide that (service), especially considering how difficult and challenging COVID has been this year, Satterfield said. To be able to provide a safe space for people to get services along with addiction (treatment) is an amazing thing.

During Wednesday mornings Marion County Commission, Satterfield thanked the commission for its role in establishing the Friendship Room, even presenting them with an award for their work.

The Marion County Commission took a chance on a new program to help those experience homelessness and addiction issues when no one else would, Satterfield said. Therefore, I am grateful and honored to present this award. They had faith in the community, and are an example of how believing in a cause can and does make a difference the community.

Marion County Commissioner Randy Elliott said that hes thankful for the Friendship Rooms presence in downtown Fairmont, noting that Satterfield and her staff offer a critical service to the community.

It was very much needed, Elliott said. We were skeptical at the beginning of whether it was needed or not but were found out there was a gap (in services). A pretty good-sized gap. People needed help during the day, and someplace they could go and someone to talk to and some counseling. We agreed to do the remodeling and do the work there, and its turned out well and has been very successful.

Looking forward, Satterfield said that she hopes to establish a community garden for the Friendship Rooms participants, as well as develop a stronger focus on addiction recovery.

My hopes for the future are to be able to provide additional groups for those in recovery, Satterfield said. We just started our Narcotics Anonymous meetings on Wednesdays in October, which is the only face-to-face meeting thats going on in the community right now. We hope to be able to provide additional support during that.

The Friendship Room is located at 221 Adams St., Suite 400. For more information, call Satterfield at 304-368-1341.

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Friendship Room in Fairmont, West Virginia, celebrates one year of operation - WV News