SisterHouse Women's Recovery Home

About this Recovery Home

SisterHouse in Oak Park, Illinois, is a recovery home for women seeking recovery from substance abuse. The residence stands at 25 Washington Blvd in Cook County.

A Sponsored Ministry Of The School Sisters Of Notre Dame

SisterHouse is a sponsored ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. SisterHouse offers a temporary home to women seeking recovery from substance abuse, providing them with a secure environment of respect, order and peace. Tax-exempt status is a matter of federal record, which gives a family one fact about the house that can be checked away from the organization's own materials.

A Year-Long Program In Four Phases

The SisterHouse program runs approximately 12 to 14 months across four phases. Phase I opens with an intensive study of the first five of the twelve steps alongside intensive individual and group therapy each week. Phase II continues that therapy while a resident sets life skills and job training goals. Phase III turns to employment and future living arrangements. Phase IV offers women who maintain their sobriety and are employed a place in supportive housing units in the SisterHouse annex directly behind the main house, as a bridge to independent living.

What A Year-Long Horizon Settles

A stated span of roughly a year across four phases answers the question most women ask before applying anywhere, which is how long this is for. It also explains the shape of the phases: the early ones are given over to step work and therapy, the later ones to a job and a next address, and the annex exists so that leaving the main house is a step rather than a departure. A woman coming out of treatment is being asked to plan in months rather than in weeks.

Therapy, Life Skills And Job Training

Residents receive individual and group therapy weekly with the organization's Behavioral Health Specialist. A life skills program and spiritual development support run alongside it, and job training comes through the CARA Program. Job training routed through a named outside program means the employment side of a stay is not improvised inside the house.

What The House Expects

• Sobriety maintained throughout participation.
• Accountability and personal responsibility to the group.
• Employment by Phase IV.
• Active participation in therapy and recovery activities.

The Setting In Oak Park

SisterHouse describes a secure, structured and peaceful environment, and a networking community of women with a familial environment. Oak Park is a Cook County village on Chicago's western border, which places Cook County recovery housing at this address just outside the city limits. The village adjoins Chicago's Austin community area on the east and River Forest on the west, and it is served by CTA rapid transit and by Metra commuter rail running into downtown Chicago.

ABOUT US SisterHouse provides a networking community of women with a familial environment committed to excel and improve all dimensions of their lives. Each new member of SisterHouse is genuinely welcomed and embraced with a love that will continue to speak word and deed as they begin a new life…together. SisterHouse requires accountability and personal responsibility to the group. It offers a secure, structured, and peaceful environment where women can grow in self-esteem and spiritual maturity.