DULUTH – Meaghan Fleischer was thrilled to move into her own eastern Duluth apartment as she worked to stay sober, many months after her release from jail and time spent living with roommates.
The 26-year-old Duluth resident worked in peer recovery and was studying to become a counselor. She had been drug-free for more than a year. She had two toddlers who had scheduled stays with her in the small space rented to her by Grace Place, a local company licensed for long-term homelessness supportive housing.
Fleischer was a list-maker and a journal she kept showed preparation for an upcoming court date to regain partial custody of her son. On a video call with her sister during her first days in the apartment in the summer of 2023, she excitedly showed a reading nook and a play area for her children.
“It was her own place, and she was so happy with it,” said sister Danielle Namchek, who lives in Farmington, Minn.
A month later on a Tuesday, Grace Place employees found her dead of a fentanyl overdose in that apartment. Fleischer is the first of three women who died of overdoses in Grace Place housing within just over a year. Each had been dead for days before their bodies were discovered.
A criminal complaint filed by the state against a suspected dealer says Fleischer was still alive early Sunday, about 50 hours before her body was found by authorities. Her family says that for two days they left messages asking that Grace Place staff check on her after she missed calls that weekend to arrange to pick up her daughter. Grace Place director and owner October Allen disputes this, saying her records show they didn’t hear from family until the day before she was discovered. She says an employee went to her apartment that day and knocked on the door. Allen also sent her a Facebook message, a common way they kept in touch.
Roommates reported last seeing each of the other women, Heather Journigan, 34, and Jodi Hartling, 58, two days before their bodies were found, according to Allen.
Families of the deceased say that’s too long. They, along with some local addiction workers and former residents, say the limited liability company was lax in its oversight. Some point the finger at its growth. The company went from operating its first residence in 2018 to now housing 150 people in 30 properties, some for women and some for men.