“I am blessed to be where I am today,” Marc Montplaisir said in the sober home he and his mother, Mary Ellen, are building in Woodstock. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)

WOODSTOCK — At 47 Old County Road in Woodstock, the land is being cleared by hand.

Marc and Mary Ellen Montplaisir are digging out roots, tossing rocks aside, and raking the soil clean. “Loam is expensive. We don’t have the extra money for that,” Mary Ellen said. “A couple of days of raking – we’ll be all right,” Marc added.

Their quiet, determined work is about more than landscaping. It’s the beginning of something much larger: a place of remembrance, a tribute to a beloved brother and son, and a source of hope for others in need.

By the end of the year, this will become what is likely the Bethel area’s first sober house – Chris’ Haven, a space for healing, built from the ground up.

Chris’ Haven is named for Mary Ellen’s eldest son, Chris, who had been sober for nearly three years before dying unexpectedly of a heart attack. “He pulled me off the streets, put me in rehab,” Marc said, reflecting on the help both he and another brother, Billy, received from Chris.

They’ve already cleared the driveway, installed a leach field, and are making way for a grassy lawn. Inside the 4,800-square-foot house, the renovation is underway. The two have gutted the interior, added insulation, framed new bedrooms and bathrooms, and begun plumbing work — with help from Madison Plumbing. Calls are already coming in from people hoping to reserve a bed.

The first floor will feature an open kitchen and living room, along with a laundry area and private quarters for the house manager.

The scope of the work ahead is daunting. Marc said he is amazed by the number of volunteers who have come through the door, and Mary Ellen hopes more will follow.

In mid-August, about a dozen members of their church, Moss Brook in South Paris, showed up to hang sheetrock and insulate. “We’re going to have a lot of sheetrock parties,” Mary Ellen said. “Then mud-and-tape parties, sanding parties…” Marc added.

Hiring contractors proved too expensive, so they turned to Facebook, where one woman volunteered her husband. He and a friend showed up and spent an entire Saturday sheet rocking the first-floor bathroom.

While residents will be provided with household necessities, they’ll be responsible for their own food and clothing — though the Montplaisirs will step in if someone needs extra help.

Mary Ellen, left, and her son Marc Montplaisir stand in the sober home they are building in Woodstock. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)

“So many people come from rehab with nothing. They go in with nothing, too. I was one of those people that literally came with nothing,  just the clothes on my back,” says Marc. Mary Ellen explains, “They have burned their bridges. (Marc) didn’t have a family member that would let him sleep on their couch anymore. As bad as we felt as much as we wanted to help him, we couldn’t enable him anymore. We did it too many times”

For nearly a decade, Marc battled addiction. “I was living under bridges, living in tents in the woods in the city of Manchester (New Hampshire), using drugs, occasionally hopping couch to couch, getting arrested, going in and out of jail.”

He was 36 when Chris helped him get into New Freedom Academy in Salem, New Hampshire, where he spent 60 days in rehab. From there, he moved into Resilience House Sober Living, where he began to rebuild his life. He remembers finding and fixing up a moped, riding it through snow at 4 a.m. to shovel for $20 an hour — just to afford his stay. Six months later, he was hired as the house manager. “I wanted more out of life than what I was doing,” he said.

The Montplaisirs now have a basement full of donated furniture, some from the Bethel Rotary Club. Hancock Lumber donated $10,000. Other contributions have come through GoFundMe and individual supporters from across the community.

Though a sober house recently opened in Rumford, the Montplaisirs said the need in the Bethel area is undeniable — and they’re determined to help others the way Marc was once helped.

“I love watching people move forward and progress,” Marc said. “It’s a great feeling. And it keeps me sober.”

For Mary Ellen, this work is deeply personal. “I want to make sure my son Christopher is never forgotten,” she said, wearing a locket that holds her son’s ashes. Engraved on it are the words: “My dear son, Chris. Forever in my heart, Mom.”

Chris’ Haven is his legacy — and will be a new beginning for many.