Since its inception in 1965, the Appalachian Regional Commission has fostered jobs and development throughout the region, including Western Maryland, most of Pennsylvania and all of West Virginia.
But when you think of a development agency like the ARC, you don’t automatically connect it with a sober living facility for women.
Then again, Brooke’s House was always designed to be a little different, as founder Kevin Simmers explained Wednesday to newly minted ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin.
Manchin, wife of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was sworn in last month. She kicked off a tour of Western Maryland on Wednesday with a morning stop at Brooke’s House, where an ARC grant was used to purchase equipment for the organization’s chocolate business.
After showing her the facility’s “dog spa,” where residents offer dog grooming — “we haven’t had a dog complain about their haircut yet,”…
