This year marked the fifth anniversary of the death of Amy Winehouse. She died aged 27 on July 23 2011 at her home in Camden of alcohol poisoning.
Undoubtedly on of the most gifted British vocalists in history, her story was one of incredible success on a global stage. She picked up accolades and awards wherever she went. However, it was also one of tragedy. Throughout her young adult life Winehouse struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, all magnified by the paparazzi’s lens as she attempted to live her life in the public eye.
Following her premature death, the Amy Winehouse Foundationwas set up. They work to ‘prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people’, offering support to those who need it.
Perhaps it’s fitting that just after the fifth anniversary of Amy’s death the Amy Winehouse Foundation has announced that they are partnering with Centra Care and Support to open a safe space for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
Based in East London, the recovery house will be known as ‘Amy’s Place’. There are 12 self-contained apartments, housing as many as 16 women at a time. Its aim will be to help recovering female addicts as they get ready to return to society.
Speaking to The Guardian, Dominic Ruffy, the Amy Winehouse Foundation’s special project manager, explained that the decision to open Amy’s place came from a frustration at the lack of women-specific addiction treatment services and facilities.
‘There are about six women-only rehabs, and beyond that, there’s an even greater paucity of women-specific recovery housing beds,’ he told The Guardian. ‘There is only one other women-only recovery house in London and it’s only a four-bed with a six-month waiting list.’
Residents of Amy’s Place will take part in a three-month programme. Ruffy pointed out that such a women-only facility is particularly important because female addicts are proven to be far more susceptible to relapse without support and, often, need safe spaces to stay away from ex-partners and address any issues of co-dependency they may have in order to recover.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.