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The Basics
Freedom House is a 55-unit apartment complex in Las Vegas, Nevada that offers a secure sober living environment in a city with job prospects and schools for those who want to take classes or work towards their degrees. With a bus route just a block away, Freedom House residents have access to many destinations. And with 12-step meetings held on the premises seven days a week, residents can work their steps as they venture into sober living. Freedom House was founded in 2010 by Jeff Iverson, a recovering drug abuser who wanted to help others in the same boat.
Accommodations and Amenities
At Freedom House, 110 residents share 55 one-bedroom, one-bathroom dual-occupancy apartments, while six larger apartments accommodate four people each for a total capacity of 134 residents when full. Though the furnishings are more Ikea and Target than Pottery Barn, they are simple, attractive and comfortable. Bedrooms have single beds and standard dressers and nightstands. There are eat-in kitchens and small adjacent dining room areas with a table and four chairs.
Residents are required to buy their own groceries and prepare their own meals. For clients who don’t have laptops, there’s a communal one with free Internet access. Each apartment has cable TV and all utilities are free. A laundry room is also available—one of the house rules is that clothes have to be washed regularly— though residents have to provide their own detergent and other supplies.
The complex also has a pool and barbecue area in addition to a fitness center. Parking is ample for those residents who bring their cars, but bicycles can also be accommodated. Residents with cars have to maintain insurance coverage and registration and have paperwork to prove ownership.
Rules and Regulations
Though the atmosphere certainly isn’t prison-like, many of the residents at Freedom House have been incarcerated before and so managers closely monitor behaviors of all kinds here and rules and regs are serious business. Infractions won’t be readily tolerated.
Each resident is required to make their bed at the beginning of the day and wear clean clothing. Sharing of personal items is forbidden—residents must have their own toiletries, towels, brushes and combs. The apartments must be maintained, which includes vacuuming and mopping, and kitchens and bathroom have to be cleaned daily. Dirty dishes are not allowed in the sink and trash has to be taken out regularly. Smoking is not permitted inside apartments, only in designated areas.
A sign-in and sign-out system is in place and mandated any time residents come or go; curfew is 9 pm every night, and prior permission is required before any visitors are admitted onto the premises. If anyone witnesses or suspects drug possession or use, they are required to report it to the property manager or risk expulsion. House staff can request a random drug test at any time, with or without cause, and may conduct inspections of individual units. If a unit doesn’t pass inspection, every resident in that unit is subject to discharge.
Residents are expected to attend one 12-step meeting daily. One house meeting each week is also mandated.
Within seven days of moving in, residents are required to have a sponsor, belong to a home group and provide the names and contact numbers of other participants in the group. Each resident must work their steps. Video or audio taping of other residents is forbidden.
On a typical evening, residents can listen to music or watch TV when their chores, housecleaning and 12-step homework are done. TV viewing during the day is not permitted.
A full-time job is required for each resident. If a situation arises where a resident wants to quit a job, they must discuss it with their house manager beforehand. The staff checks employment status on a regular basis. Exceptions to the employment rule may be made on a case-by-case basis.
House staff must be alerted to any situation that may require the involvement of law enforcement before a resident calls the police. This includes calls to 911 for non-emergency injuries or medical conditions. Only in the event of an emergency can a resident call 911, then notify house management.
Behaviors that can lead to immediate discharge are: possession of alcohol, drugs or weapons, making threats or fighting, destruction of property or changing the physical layout of an apartment, failing to submit to urinalysis, lying on intake papers, criminal activity or stealing, and failing to follow house rules or staff directives. Once a resident leaves, they have three days to claim any personal items left behind.
In Summary
Freedom House is a regimented and somewhat structured sober facility. Accommodations are clean and comfortable and 12-step meetings are a part of life. And while monthly rent is $600, in many cases Nevada social services is willing to pick up the tab.
Freedom House Sober Living
3852 Palos Verde St
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Freedom House Sober Living Cost: $600 (30 days). Reach Freedom House Sober Living by phone at (702) 712-4728. Find Freedom House on Facebook and Google+
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