MANSFIELD — Repairing family relationships can be a crucial motivator for a survivor of addiction or human trafficking.
Candace Watson-Cole has witnessed this first-hand. Some residents of her faith-based recovery program, Rubies Women’s Group, need to coordinate visitation with their children while at the recovery house.
Other women hoping to enroll in the program have been pregnant and have relied on Watson-Cole for help. Situations like this showed Watson-Cole how she could help women by expanding Rubies to serve children. This idea led to a program she is naming “Rubies and Gems.”
“A lot of times, they don’t start healing until they’re all together,” she said. “They can heal separately, but being in a safe, structured environment all together makes that a lot easier.”
Watson-Cole said she set her eyes on a 6-bedroom house in Mansfield for Rubies and Gems not knowing who owned it.
“I had never noticed it before, but I felt the Lord had claimed that property and said that’s supposed to be Rubies and Gems,” she said. “From that point forward, I was praying over the house and got introduced to Larry and Mellie Merwine.”
Mellie Merwine, project manager for Synergy Properties, said her company had owned the property Watson-Cole wanted since 2018 but hadn’t completed any rehabilitation work or renovations.
“It’s almost like we were holding on to it for her,” Merwine said. “We have a lot of ground to cover, it’s a big house with a large undertaking.”
Merwine said plenty of volunteers have offered to help renovate the house, but the cost of materials is the biggest hurdle.
“Just the materials alone is almost $10,000 for heating and cooling,” she said.
Rubies and Synergy Properties are enlisting local contractors for HVAC and electrical work. Merwine said anyone wanting to help relieve building costs can donate gift cards for Home Depot or Lowe’s to Rubies post office box at Rubies Women’s Group Inc, P.O. Box 341, Mansfield, Ohio 44901.
Rubies is also hosting a banquet Feb. 18 to raise money for the Rubies and Gems project. Tickets are $40 per person or $75 per couple. Attendees should RSVP as soon as possible.
Watson-Cole said she and a graduate of Rubies will discuss the expansion and how people can help. She said the Rubies’ advisory board is deciding whether to operate the current house in addition to Rubies and Gems or move everything to the expansion house.
“My ideal vision is to have an intake house, Rubies and Gems and a house for graduates, but I have to be a little realistic and focus on the expansion right now,” she said.
The First Congregational Church at 640 Millsboro Road is also accepting donations for the Rubies expansion project Feb. 21 for all-you-can-eat pancakes from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Rubies currently houses six women, but Rubies and Gems could have the capacity to house 12 to 18 people while following Ohio Administrative Code for group homes.
“We’re really looking forward to the expansion of Rubies and where God is taking us,” Watson-Cole said.
After renovation work, Watson-Cole said the next step to open the Rubies and Gems house will be furnishing the house and hiring staff. She hopes to open the doors by this summer.
