Recovery residences are key for treating substance use disorder. Lawmakers fight for their existence

Georgia Public Broadcasting, by Ellen Eldridge, September 2026 

A six-bedroom house on a golf course in Roswell, Ga., is not where most people would expect to find a so-called “halfway house.”

Lush landscaping along tree-lined suburban streets keeps private the pools and parking lots behind $600,000 homes like the one where Izzy Lawter lives to get peer support for her sobriety.

The 22-year-old had been struggling since childhood with undiagnosed mental illness when she left Buckhead for college in Florida, where she developed substance use disorder.

“I was blackout drunk and high for the first two years, every single day,” said Lawter, whose father died when she was 8 years old, “and then I got really physically sick because of it, but no one knew what was wrong with me.”

In 2021-2023, among people aged 12 or older in Georgia, 17.4% had a substance use disorder in the past year, similar to national averages, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Substance use disorders can often be co-morbid with mental health conditions, which affect 1.8 million Georgians annually.

Many affected adolescents lack access to care in their communities, according to data from Mental Health America.

After Lawter was evicted and attempted suicide, Lawter’s mother put her through inpatient and intensive outpatient mental health treatment, and helped her return to Georgia.

But even after successfully completing a hospital or clinic detoxification program, people living with the disease of addiction must choose friends carefully and support systems strategically. Research shows former friends and social activities can encourage relapse, which roughly 40% to 60% of people with substance use disorder do, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Read more at Georgia Public Broadcasting.