ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- An old firehouse on Dewey Avenue in Rochester is close to reopening as ROCovery Fitness, a not-for-profit which Yana Khashper hopes can help change, maybe even save lives. 

"Slowly but surely alcohol and other substances took over my life," Khashper said. "My life came to a screeching halt as a result of a DWI."

That was four years ago. Facing criminal consequences, she went into treatment. She's been sober for three years. Khashper and her fiancé started ROCovery Fitness to help in their own recovery.  

"Today, we're a sober active community and a non-profit, but we got started by scheduling a hike on our Facebook page," she said.

That first hike two years ago had 10-12 people. Today, the group has 1,000 members. They hike, cycle, kayak, do yoga, meditate and they climb mountains.    

"You've lost everything and there's shame and guilt and you don't think you can do anything with your life," Khashper said. "Then you come to Adirondacks to climb a mountain."

"There gets to be a point on that mountain, where you don't want to do it anymore, but you have someone there with you, and they reach out their hand and they tell you, 'you can keep going, you can do this.'"

Khashper says the long winters made many outdoor activities difficult, so they wanted a place where they could come and meet every day. 

The old firehouse will open in a few weeks as just that. They'll have exercise rooms and classes, art and dance expression, rooms for group meetings and spaces for social events like Sober Super Bowl. 

One of the biggest challenges in finding a permanent space to hold meetings and have activities is finding the perfect building and then affording it. That's when Khashper says an angel stepped in.

"She had lost her son to overdose last year and she wanted to give back and wanted to help us," Khashper said. "She said she thinks if this had been available earlier, things would've been different for her son, so she bought this building for us."

Many of the plumbers, masons and contractors did the renovation work inside for free. The group is applying for grants and there's a GoFundMe page to help pay for expenses so it can keep helping those who struggle every day with sobriety.

Patrick Mullin, who helped found the group, had been in recovery, relapsed and died of an overdose March 7th. Because of him, Yana says the center will have a 24-hour support line and will never stop being a resource for those who need it. "We just hope stay grass roots. We have this idea of being a staple in the community and when folks think of recover, they think of ROCovery Fitness and they feel at home here."