About this Recovery Home
Sparrow House stands in Chicago, Illinois, and operates as a men's sober house near Six Corners in Portage Park. Cook County is the county of record.
The Six Corners Setting
Stairway to Freedom locates Sparrow House near Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago, and publishes the house at 4849 West Irving Park Road. Six Corners is the Northwest Side junction where Irving Park Road, Milwaukee Avenue and Cicero Avenue meet, one of the best known crossroads in that half of the city. An address given against a landmark of that kind is one a resident can describe to anybody without reaching for a map.
A Published Street Address
A published street address lets a man judge the setting of a sober living home before he makes contact. It also means the house can be written on a job application, handed to a case manager or given to a family member without qualification, which is not a small thing for someone rebuilding a paper trail.
Men's Sober Living in Portage Park
Sparrow House accepts men, and Stairway to Freedom lists it as a men's residence. Sparrow House is one of three Stairway to Freedom houses inside the Portage Park community area, the others being Raven House and Cardinal House. A man choosing among them is choosing among addresses in one neighborhood under one operator.
How the House Is Equipped
Stairway to Freedom describes Sparrow House as having a newly remodeled kitchen with granite countertops. The kitchen is where a sober household eats together, and the operator rebuilt this one. Meals cooked in the house rather than bought out are also the part of a weekly budget a resident has the most control over.
Housing, Not Treatment
Stairway to Freedom does not operate as a detox center or a primary drug and alcohol treatment facility, and states so directly. Sparrow House is recovery housing: a sober address in Cook County with a peer group of men. The clinical side of recovery is arranged with a treatment provider, and the house supplies the place to live while that happens.
Operator Background
Stairway to Freedom was founded in 2007 by a group of members from the Chicago recovery community. The operator runs Sparrow House, Raven House and Cardinal House in Portage Park and Condor House in Belmont Cragin, four separately named men's houses on Chicago's Northwest Side.
Stairway to Freedom is a halfway house alternative that helps provide a safe and supportive place where addicts and alcoholics can start their journey from active addiction to sober living in Chicago one step at a time, and one day at a time.
Living sober in Chicago is not impossible. Stairway to Freedom offers clients a safe, supportive living environment once they are clean and committed to sober living. While on the road to recovery, our clients receive structure, support and a safe place to continue their personal recovery process.
