Front Porch Recovery Center opens in Port Wentworth after battle with city

After a years-long battle with the city of Port Wentworth, Porch Restoration Center will finally open its doors to the community on November 1.

Katy Parker, a doctor of psychology, and her husband Glenn purchased seven acres tucked near Rice Creek Plantation in Port Wentworth in 2021, hoping to open the center in about six months to a year. Front Porch Recover Center, a six-bed voluntary addiction and alcohol recovery program, was a passionate project they had poured their money and energy into as they moved across the country.

Their plans came to a halt shortly after they bought the house and moved to Port Wentworth, as neighboring residents along the private dirt road complained that the facility was operating as a commercial business and was illegal. The Parkers were denied a special use permit, even though the zoning code at the time allowed for a residential treatment center.

“I was just confused. I was like, OK, they just need education,” Katy Parker said. “So I created a fifty-slide PowerPoint illustrating who I am, what we want to do, how we do it, how the people there will be controlled and treated. I did the whole song and dance, and at the At the end of the day they were like we are happy that you want to help, but not here, not here.

The threat of a lawsuit against the city allowed them to finally get what they needed to open: a change in occupancy, a state permit.

Katy, who had grown up with addiction, and Glenn, who has been sober for sixteen years, wanted to create a program that was personalized and private, a combination of all the programs she had worked on over the years and unlike any recovery center in the US. Chatham County that are government-run or outpatient facilities.

“We don’t think addiction comes out of nowhere,” Katy said. “We think that most people have lost connection with themselves and others, often as a result of trauma, even if it is not understood or acknowledged. Here they can reconnect with themselves and reconnect with others. It’s just six men, so their care can be individualized.”

The center will provide trauma-oriented careincluding evidence-based practices and alternative approaches with some experimental components. The wellness programs include yoga, tai chi, equine therapy, mindfulness and more, with a professional 12-person team of addiction counselors, physicians and mental health specialists.

“Front Porch is committed to providing hope to those affected by addiction in the Savannah area. We want to have a positive impact on individuals and their families,” said Parker. “The Centers for Disease Control reports a drug overdose death rate in the state of Georgia of 24.9%, and we are committed to fixing this.”

The grand opening will take place on November 1 from noon to 4pm at 302 Rice Hope Plantation Road.

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities at the Savannah Morning News. You can contact her at [email protected]