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"Providing Everyone Living Sober Assistance"
On any given day in the United States, one million people are in treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction. Drug use and alcohol abuse, along with mental illness, have long been associated with homelessness, and the web of cause and effect is complex. Examples of problems in social structures are the lack of low-cost housing, regional inadequacies in wages, and deficiencies in the social support and social welfare systems. Presently, social services attempt to place individuals within programs directed toward special populations defined by combinations of identifiers, such as those who are HIV positive and with major mental illness or homeless mothers with serious alcohol or drug problems. 1983 in Los Angeles, Marjorie J. Robertson, Ph.D.
One of the major dilemmas of the recovering addict/alcoholic is to attempt recovery in an unsafe environment. Those who have completed treatment programs require a safe environment afterwards to carry on with their program. Addicts/alcoholics that are not in a safe environment are in a very dangerous life threatening situation that will make recovery difficult, if attainable at all. A recent survey conducted at the De Paul University Center for Community Research, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse (NIAA), shows that the rate of abstinence from alcohol and other drugs nearly doubled as a result of living in a supportive, democratically run sober living environment (DePaul University, 2005). After two years, nearly two thirds of those who lived in sober living homes remained abstinent!
Sober living plays a critical role in the process of recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. Sober living begins with a detailed exploration of the reasons for substance abuse. According to statistics and an emerging consensus among psychotherapists and physicians, will power and peer pressure alone are not enough to stymie the addictive impulse indefinitely. Indeed, when you look at the statistics associated with group therapy rehab, the recidivism rates among graduates of even the most well reputed programs are disturbingly high.
Sober living homes can sometimes be referred to as a rehab home, boarding home, hostel, shelter, recovery support home, or a sober shelter, and it plays an important role in getting the recovering alcoholic and/or drug addict back into the job force. They provide a clean, safe, drug free-living environment.
Sober living homes are an affordable option for individuals seeking recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction. Sober living homes also provide peer group support to help the individual to live life drug free. They help the individual get back on their own two feet in a drug free environment. Sober living homes require the person to work, attend support meetings, and stay drug and alcohol free. Numerous studies have documented how characteristics of the social environment are related to alcohol consumption and the types of problems associated with alcohol dependence. Studies have also shown that the characteristics of clients living situations are factors associated with treatment outcome.
Sober living houses provide individuals attempting to establish or maintain sobriety with an alcohol and drug free living environment. They have been used as aftercare placements for clients completing residential treatment, places for clients to live while attending outpatient treatment, or as referral sources for individuals in the criminal justice system.
The philosophy of recovery in sober living homes is a social model approach, which emphasizes shared, democratic self-governance, peer support, and attendance at self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings (Borkman, Kaskutas, Room, Bryan, & Barrows, 1998; Kaskutas, 1999; Polcin, 2001).
Sober living homes have served a variety of functions within alcohol and drug services systems.
For example, they have been used as:
• Transitional placements for clients completing residential treatment
• Clean and sober places for clients to reside while they participate in outpatient or day treatment services
• A transitional facility for individuals with alcohol and drug problems who are leaving incarceration in the criminal justice system
• An alternative means of recovery for individuals who do not want to enter formal treatment programs
Clinical and anecdotal reports suggest that sober living homes could play a more prominent role in the continuum of recovery services (e.g., Wittman, Biderman, & Hughes, 1993; Wright, 1990). They have the potential to be especially helpful for the large number of homeless individuals who have alcohol and drug problems. However, relative to the need for sober housing among addicts and alcoholics, the number of sober living homes remains woefully inadequate
We hope to provide a safe transition from higher levels of care back into the community and day-to-day living with a group of individuals doing the same. We will provide supervision to ensure that our recovery homes offer both structure and strong peer support. Clients will work, attend treatment, or attend school during the day and engage in recovery activities during the evenings.
So who benefits from these kinds of sober living homes? According to the study, everyone benefits. The cost to society is clearly reduced when addicted individuals are able to become useful and productive members of society. Peer run community-based recovery homes, according to the study, actually contribute to lower recidivism rates, thereby reducing the need for incarceration
We welcome the opportunity to help and be of service to those in need. If you or someone you know needs a clean and sober place in which to live, please call us now.
For more information please email us at: info@pelsacorp.org.
P.E.L.S.A Corporation is a 501 (c) (3) Public Benefit Charity
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