Any gal who’s newly sober and gone on the hunt to find a sober living home has probably discovered that there are far more houses for men than women. At least, that’s what I went through when sifting through the 30 or so pages of Los Angeles sober living listings when I busted out of rehab. When you’re totally desperate to find somewhere to land but 60% of all the houses are “men only,” it gets rather discouraging.
In reality, my problem paled in comparison to that of newly-sober women in London. Currently, there’s only one sober living house in the entire city, and anyone interested in snagging a bed there can expect a six-month wait (not exactly ideal when you’ve just gotten sober or out of rehab). But now there’s hope for the women of London, and it comes from Amy Winehouse.
No, It’s Not Rehab, but It’s Close
Just a few months after Winehouse passed away in July of 2011 from alcohol poisoning, her family founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation. The group develops programs to help youth struggling with drug and alcohol misuse as well as helping to enrich disadvantaged youth through music education and music therapy. Recently, news hit that the foundation will open a sober residence for women in East London called “Amy’s House.”
“This project will make such a profound difference to so many young women, enabling them to have a safe environment in which to re-build their lives and put into practice all the learning they have acquired through their treatment journey,” said Jane Winehouse, Amy’s step-mother and co-founder of the foundation. “Fresh starts are difficult to make; full of challenges, but at Amy’s Place we will give young women the tools and support to help them make this a reality.”
She added that “There is a huge lack of support to meet the needs of women in this area and we hope ‘Amy’s Place’ will show just how much more effective we can be.”
Accommodations include 12 “self-contained” units—all for women between the ages of 18 and 30—and will employ a “co-production” treatment model with the goal of catering specifically to the needs of recently-sober young women. To develop this new, three-month treatment model, the foundation asked residents of the Hope House in South London—the only women-only sober residence in London—what kinds of workshops, groups and activities they’d enjoy. Holistic offerings including Reiki, yoga and meditation are some of the groups that will be available.
A Little Sober Living Goes a Long Way
As with many sober livings, the facility is designed to act as a bridge between rehab and moving on out into the world independently. Unbeknownst to yours truly until researching for this article, the transition from rehab to the real world is trickier for women than men (which makes you wonder why the hell there’s such a paucity of recovery homes just for women in the first place. But it’s no surprise, really, when you consider that women’s health is often undervalued in society).
A 2007 American study showed that women are much more likely to relapse without this kind of structured living environment after rehab, with a 31 percent relapse rate among women who stayed in sober livings compared to the 65 percent relapse rate of those who went straight off to independent living.
Equal Opportunities for Recovery
Amy’s House isn’t just about providing some posh post-rehab digs with a musical icon’s name on its masthead; it seems to be a genuine effort on behalf of the foundation to really make a dent in the dismal resources available to women in recovery in London. Not only is there just one sober residence—among dozens for men—but there are only six all-women rehabs.
We all know it’d be rather ironic if the Amy Winehouse Foundation opened up an all-women rehab, given her biggest hit of the same name revealed her distaste for such facilities. Still, it’d be a great way to help the women of London clean up and get a second chance, and Winehouse might just posthumously tip her mic to that.
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