What is a Sober Living Home?

A Sober Living Home is often though of as a half-way house, but an sober living home is much more than that. It is a home for a community of people living together and sharing a unique goal: addiction recovery. It is a place to maintain sobriety, a place to share common goals and experiences, and a place to grow.

An sober living home provides a structured living environment dedicated to sobriety and self-improvement. All of the residents are either alcoholics or drug addicts in recovery. Some have come through rehab centers from around the country, while others decide to live with us after hearing about us from friends or at recovery meetings. Wherever they may come from, the benefits are the same.

What are the benefits? The first benefit is the drug and alcohol free environment. Many people upon leaving rehab centers return to the same environment they lived in prior to going into rehab. More often than not, these environments contributed to the problem rather than alleviating the problem. So, moving into a sober living home is a move away from a hostile environment (one that fosters addiction) to a beneficial environment (one that promotes freedom from addiction).

Accountability. Residents are not allowed to use drugs or alcohol. Those that are caught cheating (using) are asked to leave. This is an important aspect of the recovery process. If a resident can follow this rule successfully, then he or she will have much better chance of maintaining long term sobriety. All the other benefits are there to support this single benefit.

Peer support is another important benefit. All the residents at a sober living home are striving towards the same goal. Three house meetings per week are required, as well as regular 12-step meetings.

Drug tests are a benefit. How so? At Serenity Houses, they form a part of our trust but verify philosophy. We trust that our residents are not using, but verify with random drug tests. This aspect of the program adds discipline and accountability.

Location is another benefit. Loveland is a pastoral setting in beautiful Colorado, but also very close to large metropolitan centers such as Denver and Boulder. The setting is relaxed and peaceful, but not isolated in the countryside “away from it all”. Large urban centers are not far away.

Healthy recreational activities abound: hiking, skiing, boating, fishing, biking, you name it. Colorado is an outdoor sport paradise, but you do not need to athletic to participate. A nice hike in nearby Boulder is a refreshing experience.

We encourage our residents to be active during their stay. Whether they take up outdoor activities, fitness activities, work, or volunteer, being active is an important part of addiction recovery.