“It’s a disease of isolation, so you’re in a house together with other people, hopefully on the same path.” During a recent visit to the Kelly House in Wakefield — one of the estimated 300 to 400 sober homes operating in the state — the residents were attending their weekly house meeting in the basement. The meetings are a requirement for the men living at Kelly House, who range in age from 18 to 60. They also have to undergo drug and alcohol testing and regularly attend meetings based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Sober homes — places where people can live after residential substance use treatment to support the early stages of sobriety — have a somewhat sketchy reputation in Massachusetts. Self Esteem Boston Educational Institute, $23,600
Grant funds will help support new resiliency and recovery support services, and job-readiness skills for women in recovery in Boston, Lynn and Springfield.

• Sober homes provide mutual support, emphasize independent living skills, and depend on peer leadership.
• To date, CCRI has awarded more than $13.8 million in grants for the creation or preservation of more than 2,800 units of substance-free housing, in 54 communities, serving recovery populations that include men, women, families, veterans, the homeless and ex-offenders.
• RIZE Massachusetts is an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts and reduce its devastating impact on people, communities, and our economy.
• Space is limited in sober living environments which means that you may find it difficult to find a facility that has adequate housing available for your individual needs.

Successful sober homes establish and reinforce healthy lifestyles, provide a safe and stable place to live, conduct meaningful activities, and build relationships and social networks for support. Through our network of certified sober housing and empirically based recovery principles, MASH’s goal is to help create and foster these safe living environments for those with substance use disorders. In 2011, the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) established national standards for recovery residences (including sober housing). These standards were developed using a collaborative approach with input from regional and national recovery housing organizations.

About CCRI

All proposals and applicant qualifications are stringently reviewed and vetted by MassHousing. In Massachusetts, sober homes and recovery residences are different models for substance abuse recovery. Recovery residences —formerly known as halfway houses — are licensed residential treatment programs, while Massachusetts sober homes are peer-led and do not provide treatment.

GAAMHA, Gardner, $75,000
MassHousing grant funds will help acquire and rehabilitate a four-bedroom sober home for eight residents in Gardner. Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Mark E. Lawton, a former juvenile court judge who is now in private practice in Brockton, testified that his son, who struggled with addiction, was helped by living briefly in a sober home.

About MassHousing

MASH is an affiliate of NARR and used these standards to create Massachusetts standards for certified sober homes. NARR has since released two updates to the standards, first in October 2015 and then in 2018. The third version of the NARR standards provides more explicit guidance to providers, including metrics for evaluating the peer support components of a residence’s recovery environment. The Center for Community Recovery Innovations, Inc., issues an annual Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit projects for funding. The proposals that are selected need to meet CCRI’s current priorities and eligibility categories.

All MASH sober homes meet national standards based on the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) model. Sober home operators estimate that the average length of a sober house stay is about a year. But Ray Tamasi, president of the treatment center Gosnold on Cape Cod, says that depends on the individual. Thirty-three-year-old Jesse Centamore has been sober for the past four and a mash sober housing half years and now runs two sober homes operated by the treatment center Gosnold on Cape Cod. North Star Family Services, Leominster, $125,000
Grant funds will help create 14 units of affordable supportive housing for families in Leominster. Casa Esperanza, Boston, $20,682
Grant funds will help support the renovation of 14 units of sober housing for women and their children in Boston.

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In accordance with this requirement, MASH serves as the primary agency for accountability of all certified homes in Massachusetts. Our organization also provides supervision and training for sober homes, and maintains a database of more than 180 MASH-certified sober homes. BOSTON – November 17, 2022 – MassHousing has awarded a total of $143,332 in grant funding to help preserve 22 affordable sober housing units and provide supportive services to men, women, and children impacted by substance misuse. For most recovering addicts, Massachusetts sober living homes provide the smooth transitional step from treatment back into society without giving so much freedom that there is an increased risk of relapse. Residents of a sober house are required to pay rent, attend school or work, continue regular meetings at support groups and take part in regular household chores.

“There are houses out there promising parents, ‘We can get your kids clean.’ I don’t delude myself. I tell parents every day, ‘I can’t get your kid clean and I can’t keep them clean. That’s up to them,’ ” Winant said. The certification is voluntary, but if a home is not certified, the courts cannot refer people to live there. Rhonda Mann, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, says the group the National Alliance for Recovery Residences will train Massachusetts providers how to certify the homes. “They may say that they’re testing, but that may lend itself to the house manager saying, ‘Give me $50 and I’ll say that you passed,’ ” Winant said. “There are homes that are a complete mess, where a guy is putting in as many beds as possible and charging people rent.” Sober homes are supposed to be safe places for newly sober people — some who are there voluntarily, some ordered by the courts.