Chrysalis House

Kenneth Riegert's house is enough to make a child's dream come true. And the money it raises will help 20 former drug or alcohol addicts and their children begin new lives.Mr. Riegert's 9-foot-tall playhouse, the front of which is a tiny reproduction of Harbour Point, a waterfront mansion south of Annapolis, has three porches, handmade shingles and siding. It is one of five built by local developers that will be raffled off to raise money for Chrysalis House, a Pasadena-based women's halfway house.

Christina Antonini built a business before she started college, but charity, not entrepreneurial drive, motivated the 18-year-old freshman at Towson University. The Edgewater resident spent her teenage years designing, financing, building and outfitting a boutique and job-training center at a rehabilitation center for women in Crownsville. The project, which began seven years ago as an effort to earn the Girl Scouts' highest honor, has made Antonini one of 10 national winners of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.

A chrysalis is the shell a caterpillar builds around itself as it changes into a butterfly.Chrysalis House -- the addicted women's shelter behind Pasadena Crossroads -- is in the midst of a metamorphosis of its own this summer.The 6-year-old center has hired a new director to guide the shelter as it triples in size to offer rehabilitation services for pregnant women and mothers with their children.The new director is NancyCooper Morgan, a former stage and movie actress who founded and coordinated three family-oriented drug treatment programs in Baltimore and Timonium during the 1980s.

Christina Antonini of Edgewater is part of a Girl Scout troop that came up with an unusual way to give to the community — spending six years designing, financing and building a boutique and job training center at a rehabilitation facility for low-income women. For her efforts to help lead the project, Antonini recently won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award, which recognizes youths committed to making an impact in their community or beyond. In its 16th year, the Prudential program honors 102 students, two from each state and the District of Columbia.

One night in March 1993, Shirley Baskerville, body reeling from vodka, crack cocaine and heroin, walked the streets of Baltimore and wished someone would step out of the shadows and kill her."I decided I wanted to die," Ms. Baskerville said. "Treatment was not an option for me."Two years later, the 43-year-old Severna Park resident is free of her addictions and is studying to become a child therapist. She credits her transformation to Chrysalis House.The long-term residential recovery center for women has a new, two-story home on five acres at 1570 Crownsville Road in Crownsville and is inviting the public to visit today between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.Women addicted to alcohol and drugs can stay at Chrysalis House for up to a year.

Versatile singer and actress Parris Lane returns to her hometown on May 10 with her one-woman show, Parris in Springtime, at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. Lane will return from Las Vegas to stage this concert benefiting Chrysalis House, a residential treatment program for chemically dependent women in recovery and their children. Featured on Maryland Public Television's Bob the Vid Tech as Brianna, Lane divides her time between Annapolis and Las Vegas, where she pursues her singing career and works with her recording company - Raven Productions, named for her daughter.

Carole B. Baker of Severna Park has been elected the new president of the board of directors of Chrysalis House, a residential treatment facility offering long-term rehabilitation for drug- and alcohol-addicted women.Beth Peters, who has completed a two-year term as president, was elected vice president to the board, with responsibility for construction of Chrysalis House's new facility.Baker has been active in local, civic and non-profit activities for 15 years. From 1982 to 1990 she represented District 5 on the AnneArundel County Council.

Chrysalis House, one of the few rehabilitation programs in Maryland to treat pregnant women hooked on drugs, is expanding its services with a new 33-bed center in Crownsville.Unable to grow in Pasadena, the program has purchased six acres off Crownsville Road, behind Crownsville State Hospital, for a bigger facility. One wing in the new center will be reserved for pregnant women and women with young children."Our hope is to stop the cycle of addiction," said Carole Baker, head of the Anne Arundel County chapter of United Way and president of the Chrysalis House board of directors.

One of the toughest obstacles for many women seeking help for alcoholism or drug addiction is finding a secure place for their children while they are in treatment.To that end, Chrysalis House in Pasadena, a drug and alcohol treatment program for women, plans to open the state's first long-term treatment facility for women that allows their children to live with them for up to a year."If you have to worry about whether your kids are safe, it's impossible to concentrate on recovery," said Executive Director Meg Clarke, noting that women often postpone treatment indefinitely because they can't find a safe, secure place for their children.

Future home contracts 22% lower than April '94April contracts for future residential construction in Maryland were 22 percent lower than in 1994, according to figures released by the F. W. Dodge Division of DRI-McGraw Hill Inc. of New York. F. W. Dodge reported that contracts for one- and two-family houses and apartments totaled $198.5 million in April compared with $254.5 million during the same period last year.Despite the April decline, residential construction in Maryland is up by 19 percent for the first four months of 1995 at 960.2 million compared with $807.

United Way to give funds to nonprofits United Way of Central Maryland will provide additional funding to Anne Arundel County nonprofit agencies that applied for discretionary grants. A total of $76,000 in discretionary grants has been awarded to 17 nonprofit organizations. Annapolis Area Ministries, Inc., Anne Arundel County Food Bank, Arundel House of Hope, Inc., Big Brothers Big Sisters, CASA, Centro de Ayuda, Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, Chrysalis House, Food Link, Inc., Meals on Wheels, Opportunity Builders, Inc., Partners in Care, Sarah's House, The ARC of the Central Chesapeake Region, Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County, Organization of Hispanic Latin Americans of Anne Arundel County, and St. Mary's ESL program will receive a portion of the additional funds.

Michelle Jones was in the kind of trouble from which Baltimore's young people often don't rebound. Addicted to crack and heroin. Arrested for prostitution and possession. Alienated from her family, Jones had to cede custody of her 2-year-old son to her mother. And she was pregnant again. Had Jones, 24, given birth while serving her sentence for those convictions in the Baltimore Women's Detention Center, she would have had to give up her baby. Instead, the court directed Jones to a new home for pregnant nonviolent offenders in Park Heights, where Jones can finish serving her sentence and some of her probation while getting clean and learning how to be a mother.

Versatile singer and actress Parris Lane returns to her hometown on May 10 with her one-woman show, Parris in Springtime, at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. Lane will return from Las Vegas to stage this concert benefiting Chrysalis House, a residential treatment program for chemically dependent women in recovery and their children. Featured on Maryland Public Television's Bob the Vid Tech as Brianna, Lane divides her time between Annapolis and Las Vegas, where she pursues her singing career and works with her recording company - Raven Productions, named for her daughter.

If organizations, like people, can be judged by the company they keep, Chrysalis House must be a place where long-sought songs of joy can begin.This Sunday afternoon at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the long-term residential facility that does so much to meet the needs of low-income women in crisis and their children will play host to a Broadway-style benefit cabaret featuring extraordinary local and national musical talent.Jazz singer Parris Lane will be on hand to serenade the audience with her inimitable multioctave voice that can travel from gospel to jazz to blues to pop to Broadway and back again with astounding authority.

One night in March 1993, Shirley Baskerville, body reeling from vodka, crack cocaine and heroin, walked the streets of Baltimore and wished someone would step out of the shadows and kill her."I decided I wanted to die," Ms. Baskerville said. "Treatment was not an option for me."Two years later, the 43-year-old Severna Park resident is free of her addictions and is studying to become a child therapist. She credits her transformation to Chrysalis House.The long-term residential recovery center for women has a new, two-story home on five acres at 1570 Crownsville Road in Crownsville and is inviting the public to visit today between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.Women addicted to alcohol and drugs can stay at Chrysalis House for up to a year.

Potential to Become the Jewel of PasadenaRecently, our county executive, John Gary, met with citizens of the Fort Smallwood Road corridor to discuss allowing builders Michael Rose and Gary Koch to build homes in addition to what is already zoned for in exchange for them assisting the county in building a 27-hole golf course.I and many other residents welcome the golf course as well as the proposed $200,000 to $400,000 homes by Mr. Rose and Mr. Koch. The Fort Smallwood Road corridor has the potential of becoming the jewel of Pasadena.

United Way to give funds to nonprofits United Way of Central Maryland will provide additional funding to Anne Arundel County nonprofit agencies that applied for discretionary grants. A total of $76,000 in discretionary grants has been awarded to 17 nonprofit organizations. Annapolis Area Ministries, Inc., Anne Arundel County Food Bank, Arundel House of Hope, Inc., Big Brothers Big Sisters, CASA, Centro de Ayuda, Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, Chrysalis House, Food Link, Inc., Meals on Wheels, Opportunity Builders, Inc., Partners in Care, Sarah's House, The ARC of the Central Chesapeake Region, Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County, Organization of Hispanic Latin Americans of Anne Arundel County, and St. Mary's ESL program will receive a portion of the additional funds.

Christina Antonini of Edgewater is part of a Girl Scout troop that came up with an unusual way to give to the community — spending six years designing, financing and building a boutique and job training center at a rehabilitation facility for low-income women. For her efforts to help lead the project, Antonini recently won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award, which recognizes youths committed to making an impact in their community or beyond. In its 16th year, the Prudential program honors 102 students, two from each state and the District of Columbia.

Future home contracts 22% lower than April '94April contracts for future residential construction in Maryland were 22 percent lower than in 1994, according to figures released by the F. W. Dodge Division of DRI-McGraw Hill Inc. of New York. F. W. Dodge reported that contracts for one- and two-family houses and apartments totaled $198.5 million in April compared with $254.5 million during the same period last year.Despite the April decline, residential construction in Maryland is up by 19 percent for the first four months of 1995 at 960.2 million compared with $807.

Kenneth Riegert's house is enough to make a child's dream come true. And the money it raises will help 20 former drug or alcohol addicts and their children begin new lives.Mr. Riegert's 9-foot-tall playhouse, the front of which is a tiny reproduction of Harbour Point, a waterfront mansion south of Annapolis, has three porches, handmade shingles and siding. It is one of five built by local developers that will be raffled off to raise money for Chrysalis House, a Pasadena-based women's halfway house.