Gainesville is now home to a new recovery center, one designed to offer peer-to-peer help to those battling addictions of all varieties.
J’s Place, located on the north end of Gainesville off SR 60, held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.
The center was established by private donors. The purpose of the facility is to create a safe place for recovering addicts where they can unwind and have support when it comes to maintaining their sobriety.
Executive Director Mary Paglia said fell into opioid addiction after she was diagnosed with a deadly cancer.
“A lot of the times when people go through recovery, there is not a step afterwards,” Paglia said. “It is because of this several people enter into a cycle of relapse.”
J’s Place, named in memory of Jeffrey Dallas Gay, Jr. of Gainesville, acts as that step between starting recovery and maintaining a clean and heathy lifestyle. Gay's family, his grandfather Dallas Gay in particular, has been instrumental in the opioid addiction battle in Georgia ever since Jeffrey succumbed to an overdose in 2012.
The center is equipped with a wellness and fitness center, a library, an art room, a main room for meetings, an office space where people can look for and apply for jobs and a children’s room.
“One of the things we hear from mothers in recovery is that it’s hard for them to go to meetings, because they don’t have childcare,” Paglia said. “So, we’re going to provide volunteers to come in and help with their children.”
J’s Place accepts people battling all addiction, not solely those fighting drugs and alcohol.
“We’re not specific to any particular group,” Paglia said. “We’re not focused on just alcohol, narcotics or eating disorders,” she said.
Paglia said she likes that the center is nestled away yet located in a convenient location right off the highway and near two bus stops, making it accessible to nearly everyone.
“It has the feel of home, so I loved it the moment I walked through it,” she said.
