Stepping Stones in Joliet looks to open new center for mothers in recovery

Stepping Stones Treatment Center in Joliet plans to open a recovery center for mothers and their children in February.

In October, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office toured the recovery center.

Seven mothers and their children, from newborn to age 5 – and one apartment manager – will live in the apartment building as the mothers receive treatment for substance abuse from Stepping Stones in a separate building from the housing, said Rabbi Jenny Steinberg-Martinez, who became executive director of Stepping Stones on Oct. 15.

A room for a mother includes a bed, dresser and more in a furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new Women and Children Recovery Home on Oct. 30, 2025. — A room for a mother includes a bed, dresser and more in a furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new women and children recovery home Oct. 30, 2025. (Laurie Fanelli)

Each of the eight 750-square-foot furnished apartments will contain a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and one bathroom, said Paul Lauridsen, former executive director and Stepping Stones’ current executive assistant.

Construction on the recovery center, located near the corner of Plainfield Road and Theodore Street, began in 2024.

The new Stepping Stones Women and Children Recovery Home is located adjacent to the organization’s treatment center on Theodore St. in Joliet. — The new Stepping Stones women and children recovery home is located adjacent to the organization’s treatment center on Theodore Street in Joliet. (Laurie Fanelli)

The Stepping Stones recovery center will be the second licensed recovery center in Illinois to provide housing for mothers and their children, according to a 2024 Herald-News story.

Lauridsen said planning for the recovery center began in 2018, when Stepping Stones was expanding residential service.

He said the recovery center is a natural expansion of Stepping Stones’ extended-care program.

“A number of women who had their kids taken were looking at getting into further treatment or recovery support and get reunited with their kids,” Lauridsen said. “So we went in that direction and looked for ways to finance it.”

Former Stepping Stones executive director Paul Lauridsen engages in a discussion about addiction and recovery services at Stepping Stones on Oct. 30, 2025. — Former Stepping Stones Executive Director Paul Lauridsen engages in a discussion about addiction and recovery services at Stepping Stones on Oct. 30, 2025. (Laurie Fanelli)

Fundraising began in 2019 to pay for the $3.7 million apartment building, The Herald-News previously reported.

Stepping Stones received more than $3 million from federal and state grants; federal funding made available through Will County; and donations from foundations, businesses and individuals.

Each furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new Women and Children Recovery Home features a new kitchen, as pictured on Oct. 30, 2025. — Each furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new women and children recovery home features a new kitchen, as pictured Oct. 30, 2025. (Laurie Fanelli)

Steinberg-Martinez said many women wind up terminating their care because they must choose treatment or caring for their young children.

Not all women have a supportive family to help them, she added.

“This provides the opportunity and space for them to be [a] mother in the most important years of their children’s lives, 0 to 5,” Steinberg-Martinez said.

Two twin beds are found in a furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new Women and Children Recovery Home on Oct. 30, 2025. — Two twin beds are found in a furnished apartment at Stepping Stones’ new women and children recovery home Oct. 30, 2025. (Laurie Fanelli)

Marge Garay, clinical director at Stepping Stones, previously said “treatment and recovery is not the same for women as it is for a man. And treatment is not the same for women with children as it is for a man.”

Garay referenced a former Stepping Stones client who ended treatment to avoid losing her children.

“She died of an overdose in one week,” Garay said.