In response to “Healing,” Penny Junk’s June 9 letter.
There is a major difference. Penny, I’m all for people getting help with their addictions but for-profit facilities, such as sober houses, are widely unregulated and often run by people who have little to no understanding of how healthcare or addictions work. Detox/rehab facilities conduct counseling and life-lesson sessions to get addicts away from their addictive tendencies. Unlike sober living communities, addicts are not allowed to interact with the outside while in rehab.
I, too, have had a close relationship to a sober living community. They rarely conduct sessions or provide treatments for addicts. Those treatments occur in rehab, where addicts go to detoxify. The sober living environment does not provide addiction treatment, per se, but instead provides the foundation for sober living through meetings, group discussions and activities designed to help residents maintain sobriety and develop healthy living habits. A sober living facility is more like an accommodation center than a rehab. Addicts come to a sober living community after they are released from a rehab or detox facility.
Residents will learn to manage the routines of their daily life, from cooking and cleaning for themselves to managing finances and learning new social skills. They adhere to house rules, including a curfew and participate in activities with other residents. Sober living facilities provide an accommodation for these addicts to ease into their new life.
In sober living communities, residents work or go to school and enjoy great freedom of movement. While residents have chores and attend meetings in support of their recovery, they are free to come and go as they please. Although there are curfews established, participation in sober living is voluntary.
In my opinion, this is not a great setup for Fountain Hills, which has limited resources/public transportation.
