The Basics
Founded more than 40 years ago in North Hollywood, California, Vesper House provides safe and structured transitional living for women in recovery. Vesper House boasts the reputation of being the oldest female-only sober living home in Southern California, and is a member of the Sober Living Network, Los Angeles County Sober Living Coalition.
Accommodations and Amenities
Vesper House includes a spacious living room, dining room, fully equipped kitchen, and eight bedrooms. The spacious living room is used for meetings and has a rack stuffed with AA literature. The room includes comfy couches and a house computer. Clients are paired in double-occupancy rooms furnished with twin beds. Each woman has her own personal dresser, and shares half a closet. Amenities include a television with Cable TV and two house computers with Internet. At Vesper House, Wi-Fi is not provided and personal TVs are not allowed. Smoking is permitted in outside areas, including a side patio.
The house is stocked with food, usually donated by local food pantries. Additionally, the house manager makes frequent trips to local food banks. Due to so many diverse schedules in the house, clients typically prepare their own food. One resident will cook for the entire household, and leave the food on the stove for women to grab a bite when they get home. On Sundays, a resident often prepares breakfast for the entire household.
Rules and Regulations
New clients must have undergone detox and be completely drug free. Additionally, potential clients are screened regarding their medication use. Women who require meds for co-occurring disorders are not admitted. At Vesper House, the only medicines that are allowed are those that are deemed “life saving” including heart and thyroid medications. Inhalers are allowed. All psychiatric medications, including those in the SSRI family, such as Prozac and Celexa, are forbidden.
Once admitted, clients can stay as long as they want. Most residents live at Vesper House up to two years. Requirements for residents include attending five weekly 12-step meetings, acquiring and maintaining full-time work and being present at two house meetings. Performance of household chores is also mandated. Clients must also find and maintain full-time employment.
The curfew is 11 pm Mondays through Thursdays, one am on Fridays and Saturdays, and ten pm on Sundays. At Vesper House, random drug and alcohol testing is conducted. There is a zero tolerance for relapsed clients—they must leave the premises immediately. They are allowed to return to the house after 14 days, on a case-by-case basis.
Extras
Residents of Vesper House are known as the “Vesperettes.”
In Summary
Vesper House offers a safe, comfortable sober livings experience for women seeking a 12-step focused environment. Former clients rave about how being a Vesperette helped them stay clean and sober while they rebuilt their lives. However, due to strict regulations regarding medication, women who require psychiatric support are advised to continue their search for a sober living that will be a better fit.
Vesper House
6301 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91606
Vesper House Cost: $520 (30 days). Reach Vesper House by phone at (818) 769-3057. Find Vesper House on YouTube and Facebook
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Photo courtesy of Downtowngal (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
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