What’s Next for TSG Recovery Housing Bill

BY: IRISH HAINES

Earlier this month, Temple Parliament passed a resolution to continue to explore an option for recovery housing on Main Campus.

Temple provides limited areas and resources for students in recovery. While there are certain floors in university residence halls for students seeking help through drug and alcohol rehabilitation, this doesn’t help all students who need additional resources, such as intensive outpatient care and counseling.

The closest recovery house to Temple’s campus is located in South Philadelphia. This resolution aims to provide housing that’s more accessible to Temple students.

Addiction is an increasing issue which is exemplified in Philadelphia’s opioid epidemic.

“Now that it’s passed, we’re in the process of setting up meetings with the administration to create a board proposal and essentially get the ball rolling from the administrative side of it,” said George Basile, the Temple Student Government (TSG) representative who first introduced the bill for on-campus recovery housing. “The board proposal will have essentially an analysis of all the feasible paths toward getting recovery housing at Temple, and it’ll also have cost benefit analysis, which will be the most effective means of achieving the desired outcome.”

Basile was inspired to continue to push for the bill thanks to overwhelming support for the initiative.

“What ended up happening was, when we finally did take this issue up, there was a lot of support that came out of the woodwork from parents, students that were in their own recovery, former students who were just adamantly in support of this initiative,” Basile said. “Seeing that welling of support reaffirmed to us that we’re creating something that is going to change lives for the better.”

Some students, however, have expressed concerns about a circumstance of identity when it comes to public knowledge of recovery housing.

Tracey Delgado, a nursing student at Temple, supports the bill. She cited her knowledge and experience of seeing what drug addiction can do to a person from a health standpoint. Still, Delgado is weary about social stigmas that can sprout from this.

“There’s going to be some kind of stereotyping or stigma that surrounds this housing that’s primarily for recovering addicts, and I do think that is something that Temple needs to take in consideration when implementing this new housing,” Delgado said.

While TSG is moving forward with the bill, the timetable recovery housing near Temple’s main campus is indefinite.