The Basics
Founded in 1991 by Shirley Harris, an addiction specialist and long-term member of the recovery community, Women for Sobriety Center, Inc. provides transitional care for recovering female alcoholics and addicts, and for those with children. Women for Sobriety is nicknamed Shirley’s House, in honor of its founder, and is a member of the Sober Living Network, Los Angeles County Sober Living Coalition.
Accommodations and Amenities
Women for Sobriety is a three story Victorian house with a white porch that wraps around the second floor. A huge tree looms over the house, and provides ample shade during the summer. The home has six bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Twenty-two clients, including children are accommodated. Up to four residents share a fully furnished room, which includes beds, shared closet space and dressers. Amenities include bed linens, a laundry facility, Internet, Cable TV and onsite tutoring for school age children.
The house includes a fully equipped kitchen, three daily meals can be provided for an additional $200 monthly cost. Clients also have the option of purchasing their own groceries, and preparing their own meals. Qualified residents are eligible for food stamps, which helps towards obtaining food. Staff lives on the premises.
Rules and Regulations
Clients must have a minimum of 30 days clean and sober in order to be eligible for admission. Women for Sobriety also accepts financially challenged women with co-occurring disorders. The maximum length of stay is 18 months and all clients receive individualized recovery plans, which are reviewed regularly and adjusted as needed.
Clients must work, seek employment, participate in outpatient treatment, attend school or perform community services. Other requirements include attendance at four weekly 12-step meetings, of which three are mandatory on-site meetings. The meeting schedule includes a Tuesday night co-ed speaker meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, a Thursday night Women’s Big Book Study from 7 pm to 8:15 pm, and a Friday night Women’s Twilight speaker meeting from 7 pm to 8:30 pm. These meetings are open to the public.
The women are provided referrals for outpatient treatment at drug rehabs, mental health facilities, vocational services, STD treatment facilities and reunification support services for women who are estranged from their children. Qualified residents are referred to housing assistance services. The curfew is 10 pm seven days a week, with lights out at 10:30 pm. Random drug and alcohol testing is conducted to ensure the safety of the household.
Extras
Other services that can be provided if necessary include peer support, intervention and basic life skills coaching.
As a non-profit organization, Women for Sobriety relies on donations from the community for household items.
In Summary
Former clients and the founder Shirley Harris herself, say that Women for Sobriety saved their lives. This is a program that truly reaches out to help many financially challenged clients, and teaches them that they deserve a second chance and they are not alone in their recovery.
Mailing address:
Women For Sobriety Center, Inc.
PO Box 7993
Mission Hills, CA 91346
Physical address:
Women for Sobriety Center, Inc.
1422 S Wilton Place
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Women for Sobriety Center, Inc. Cost: $660-$860 (30 days). Reach Women for Sobriety Center, Inc. by phone at (888) 439-6534 (toll free), (323) 733-4481 or by email. Find Women for Sobriety Inc. at YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Google+
Do you have a complaint or review of Women for Sobriety Center, Inc. to add? Use the comments area below for your Women for Sobriety Center, Inc. review.
Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
