Both halfway house and sober living communities act as secondary recovery methods for those suffering from alcohol and substance use disorders. These facilities provide a follow-up for inpatient and outpatient programs. While both living options offer a stepping stone of reintegration into society, halfway houses and sober living communities take different approaches. Learning to recognize the differences between them will help you realize which is best for you to achieve a comfortable and successful recovery.
Sober Living Home vs. Halfway House
The treatment for alcohol or substance use disorder takes many forms. There is no one correct method for seeking treatment. Common approaches include but are not limited to:
- In-patient programs with medical rehabilitation and treatment facilities for early-stage recovery
- Out-patient programs with medical rehabilitation and treatment facilities for early-stage recovery
- Halfway houses for transitional recovery periods
- Sober living homes for transitional recovery periods
- 12-Step programs for independent, operational, and ongoing recovery
- Working with your primary care physician or specialist for ongoing medical treatment and recovery
Within this list, we include halfway houses and sober living homes. A common misconception for those who newly suffer from alcohol or substance use disorder is that halfway houses and sober living homes are the same. Even seasoned alumni of recovery programs misuse the two terms interchangeably. We at Real Recovery Sober Living will tell you otherwise, that the differences between sober living homes and halfway houses are stark though they share some common characteristics.
How sober living homes and halfway houses are similar is that they provide shelter and support to those seeking help in the transitional period of their recovery. Additionally, both advocate and require residents to abstain from alcohol or substance use. The resources that either one provides are invaluable to the individual who is brave enough to start their recovery journey.
Furthermore, as acting transitional shelter and support systems for recovering persons, sober living homes and halfway houses take in a wide array of backgrounds, including people who:
Completed medical treatment from an in-patient or out-patient rehabilitation facility
- Were recently released from incarceration and in need of a recovery program
- Are at high risk of relapse
- Have a history of relapse
- Live in an environment where they are susceptible to alcohol or substance use
- Do not have a support system for recovery
- Want to learn preventive measures for cravings and triggers
As contrary as it sounds, having stated all of these similarities between sober living homes and halfway, the difference between the two lies in the quality of accommodations and amenities. The quality of care put toward members of a sober living community compared with that of a halfway house is what draws in new residents recovering from alcohol or substance use disorder.
Rather than jail time, some individuals opt for a halfway house, which is most likely funded by the state government. Sober living homes are often privately funded. Thus, halfway houses are the less expensive option, although amenities provided by halfway house facilities are often and most times lacking. Sober living homes range in the quality of their amenities as well; however, simple pleasures like a comfortable couch, an individual TV, a personal apartment with high-speed internet, and more are enough to provide greater comfort than that at a halfway house.
We also would like to point out that not everyone who resides at a halfway house wants to be there. As mentioned before, some people living in those recovery homes are administered there by government demand due to legal issues or incarceration. Thus the effort you see in the community around you may or may not match your own determination.
Finding yourself surrounded by both a community and an environment that is lacking is not an efficient way to successfully traverse recovery and your sobriety.
Our Story and Experiences with a Halfway House
Our story starts with our founder, Patrick, an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). During his own path toward recovery, Patrick experienced what is all too common among people recovering from alcohol or substance use disorder. He went through the basic elementary steps, completing an in-patient program for his early-stage sobriety. After, he lived at a halfway house located in Tampa, Florida, at the suggestion of his therapist.
Patrick’s experience upon first meeting those living in the halfway house was everything he was looking to avoid. The environment consisted of no organization, strewn about items, and mess everywhere. The people he met gave no real introduction, and he knew not what to make of it.
Throughout his time at this halfway house, he never saw accountability in the way of a drug test, contract to sign, direction, or resources that would have otherwise helped him. His admission cost $600 per month with only the idea of him going to 12-Step meetings and a weekly house meeting.
The worst of his experiences while living at the halfway house that eventually drove him to leave included:
- A leaking roof every time it rained
- Men without proper sleeping conditions ending up with their beds made up in a walk-in closet
- Infestations of bed bugs and cockroaches freely roaming the halfway house property
- Unkempt grounds and subpar oversight for incidents
- Zero accountability as house managers were non-existent
- Zero restrictions in place for residents coming and going
- Patrick’s bathroom vent caught fire following twenty years of buildup of debris
What Patrick found after leaving this halfway house, and in his search for another recovery residence, was that there was no good solution. These detrimental issues that caused him trauma in his stay at the halfway house were also common throughout Florida’s transitional recovery halfway homes.
How Our Sober Living Home Supports You
Since Patrick’s “adventure” with halfway homes, he has made it his mission to provide the type of care that he had hoped for but had not found, for those also suffering from alcohol or substance use disorder, founding Real Recovery Sober Living.
The experience Patrick endured should not be the experience of anyone else traversing their recovery and trying to achieve long-term sobriety. Real Recovery Sober Living’s sober living communities are unlike most private recovery home businesses you find throughout Florida that look to take advantage of people suffering from alcohol or substance use disorder.
Finding the right support for you is a necessary endeavor in your recovery. We said it before, and we will say it again: The community and environment you surround yourself with directly impact how well you do in the transitional stage of your recovery – whether you stay sober or relapse.
Our sober living home supports you with our availability, readiness, and ability to connect with and help you navigate early sobriety without the guise of “making a quick buck.” Our sober living communities are supplied with experts and professionals who are active members in recovery and the community. We ensure every community has a program administrator and house manager.
Our Sober Living Home Success Story
One particular friend of ours, John C., lived for years struggling with alcohol and substance use disorders. He puts it eloquently in his post-treatment interview with us, “if you give your 100% for one year, really give your recovery your all, and life doesn’t change for the better […] we’ll refund your misery.”
John C.’s history with drinking goes back to him at age 13. He is 36 now. Quickly, he explored more than alcohol, getting involved with opiates and eventually heroin. Over the years, as he found cheaper and cheaper drugs, his only goal in life was starting every day with the question of how he could get high. Between the ages of 22 to 25, alcohol and drug abuse developed into dependence, and subsequently, addiction, for John C.
John C. shared the same story as Patrick, going through in-patient medical rehabilitation treatment with him and transitioning to the same halfway house. He acknowledges the filth that the halfway house consisted of as well as the fact that he was unable to remain sober while living there. He needed a more structured community and environment.
By fate or luck, after relapsing at the halfway house some eight months into his program, and two years later out of the recovery program, John C, now with a son, finally got sober again through a 90-day treatment program and transitioned to Real Recovery not knowing Patrick ran it. Only when he coincidentally bumped into Patrick at an AA meeting did John C. find out.
Jumping forward five years, John C. acknowledges the problems he and Patrick faced at the halfway house they lived together at. He mentions that Patrick successfully used those experiences to transform Real Recovery Sober Living into a safe space for those seeking recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders. With five years of sobriety, John C. is finally able to see his son again. That was with the help of a sober living community, not a halfway house.
In his interview with Real Recovery, John C. rounds off with advice for family members seeking help for a loved one, saying, “The biggest thing I tell them is not to enable their son or the person; if somebody always wants to get help, [Real Recovery Sober Living] is the place that you would help them by getting them in here […] this is a good place to start.”
Real Recovery Sober Living community is a transitional recovery facility and program for men in the early stages of their sobriety. We are not a medical rehabilitation facility. If you need medical attention for alcohol or substance use disorder, please seek treatment from a licensed medical professional. The program that we have established aims to engross you in a community rich with support, tools, resources, and the knowledge to fight these progressive diseases.
At Real Recovery Sober Living, we administer our program as an extension of the 12-Step system for greater accountability within a safe environment. Our sober living community has seen success as a separate form of a recovery program, as opposed to halfway houses, knowing we can meet the needs of our members without issue. If you or a loved one is suffering from alcohol or substance use disorder, do not hesitate to call us at (727) 290-9156.
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Find out the key differences between a sober living home and a halfway house through Real Recovery’s firsthand experience. Call (727) 290-9156 to learn more.
