Living In a Halfway House Sober by Terri Rimmer - originally published by Associated Content, 2007

What's it like to live in a halfway house sober?

Well, I can tell you firsthand because I did this in August 1991 for a month with three years dry time.

That is not the norm. In fact, most people living in a sobriety halfway house are trying to get sober and have just got out of treatment for alcohol or drug addiction.

This type of halfway house is defined as a home in a residential area where you live while you are looking for a job, saving up money to get your own place and getting some sobriety under your belt. While living there you are required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and obey curfew and other rules. It's not necessarily a pleasant place to stay because you have to deal with violence sometimes, theft of your belongings, and dealing with all the different personalities meshed together.

However, sobriety halfway houses are known to be lifesavers. I know a woman in her 50s who went into one with her daughter a few years ago and the woman never left because she had nowhere to go. She stayed on and helped other women who came through the program.

I lived at Rebos, a women's sobriety halfway house in Jacksonville, FL that is now closed due to interest and funding. Rebos stood for "sober" spelled backwards. It was a small modest home on the westside and I planned on staying longer than I did. What I did not count on was a female resident who was a counselor at another facility pulling a knife on me. Turns out she was nuts. I lived there for the time I did because I lost my job and my apartment, having nowhere to go. Thank God my sister came and rescued me when my life was threatened at the halfway house.

I worked during the day, unlike the rest of the residents so at least I had a break during that time. My friends were baffled as to why I was living in a halfway house with the length of sobriety I had but I had no other resources. I even was allowed to have my cat there though she had to stay outdoors. I paid a small amount of rent from my $7/hour job as a legal secretary and us residents had to buy our own food. This was typical for a halfway house set-up.

Co-ed sobriety halfway houses were known to be problems for women and I had heard horror stories from a couple of female friends about attempted rapes and committed ones, too. Some sobriety halfway houses allowed children to be with their moms in the facility while others didn't. The latter kept some women from getting help. Most of the men living in halfway houses were convicted felons but some weren't. It was expected that residents look for a job, attend counseling if needed or required, and assist with chores. If a resident drank or did drugs they were immediately kicked out.

The Alco House and Fellowship Houses in Jacksonville were known to have eating meetings and speakers to come in on holidays and anniversaries of the facilities and tell their stories and members of AA would bring food. It would be a big crowd and a large spread of culinary delights. This was a real treat for residents.

There are also halfway houses for convicted sex offenders, mentally ill persons, and convicted felons.