Discovery House asks county for continued support as flood damage forces repairs

Yvonne Taylor, identified as the treasurer for Discovery House, updated Dickinson County supervisors on the nonprofit’s operations and infrastructure needs, describing flood damage to a Spencer facility and current plumbing failures that have forced the women's house to remain empty.

“Discovery House has been in existence here in Spirit Lake since 1993,” Taylor said, noting the organization’s role in providing sober-living housing for people in recovery. She said the group had 54 residents this year for a total of 4,392 resident-nights, and that a recent sale of a damaged Spencer property helped stabilize the organization’s finances after clean-up and utility liabilities.

Taylor said the women's house currently has two bathrooms offline after a pipe leaked through a wall and ceiling; the board has three bids for repairs and has secured a $5,000 grant toward the work. She described the house’s intake and accountability systems — weekly checklists, curfews, chore rotations and signed documentation of attendance at 12-step meetings — and said the program reports a program-level success rate near 43 percent, noting some residents return multiple times before achieving long-term recovery.

Board members asked about follow-up for residents who fail to meet criteria; staff described a triage process of referrals, contacting emergency contacts, coordinating with treatment centers and, in some cases, finding alternative housing or reentry into treatment. Taylor said Discovery House serves people from multiple counties and that the board is weighing whether to hire a full-time director or revert to a model with live-in house managers.

Supervisors did not vote on a specific appropriation at the meeting but were told county, municipal and neighboring-county support have historically assisted the program.