About this Sober House
21 Western is a women's recovery residence in Augusta, Maine, operated by ENSO Recovery. The house is in Kennebec County, in the state capital, and holds Maine Association of Recovery Residences certification at Level 3.
About 21 Western
21 Western is one of three MARR-certified residences in ENSO Recovery's Augusta network, and it is a women's house. What separates it from an ordinary shared rental is that the housing and the clinical program belong to the same organization. The operator treats housing in Augusta as clinical infrastructure rather than as something residents have to go and arrange for themselves, so a woman living here sits inside the outpatient continuum rather than alongside it.
Residents prescribed medication for opioid use disorder are accepted. ENSO applies that across every one of its recovery homes, which means being on medication-assisted treatment does not rule out a place at 21 Western.
Certification and What Level 3 Signals
21 Western is certified by the Maine Association of Recovery Residences at Level 3. Certification means the house has been reviewed against MARR's written standards and is listed in its public certified-residence directory, which is the first thing worth checking about any sober house in Maine, because the directory is open to anyone and the listing either exists or it does not. The level describes the type of residence rather than scoring it, and Level 3 sits toward the more structured end of the scale rather than at the peer-run end. It is a useful thing to know before moving in, because the level sets the expectation for how much oversight and program a resident is walking into, and a mismatch on that point is one of the commoner reasons a placement fails early.
Who 21 Western Serves
ENSO's Augusta program works with adults in recovery, and a substantial share of them are working through court involvement or transitioning out of incarceration. For a woman leaving custody or finishing a court process in Kennebec County, the argument for a house like this is continuity. The organization that runs the clinic on Western Avenue also runs the house, so a change of address does not mean starting again with a new provider, re-explaining a history, or waiting out a fresh intake process at the exact moment when a gap is most dangerous.
Sober Living in Augusta, Maine
Augusta is Maine's state capital and the county seat of Kennebec County, and 21 Western is on the Western Avenue corridor in the west of the city. That is the main commercial run in that part of Augusta, the stretch nearest the Augusta Civic Center, and it puts a resident on a working road with shops and services rather than out on a rural route where every errand and every meeting depends on finding a ride. In a state as spread out as Maine, that is not a small consideration.
Recovery in a small capital city tends to be a close-knit affair. The clinics, the meetings and the houses know each other, and a woman who builds a network in Augusta is building it among people she is likely to keep running into for years. Kennebec County also carries a heavy share of the state's court and corrections activity, which is part of why an operator with a jail-based treatment program has put houses here.
Finding a Place at 21 Western
Inquiries run through ENSO Recovery, which handles admissions for its Augusta houses alongside its outpatient services at 90 Western Avenue. Because the residence is part of a clinical continuum rather than a separate rental, the conversation about a place in the house and the conversation about treatment tend to be the same conversation. Prospective residents should expect to talk about both, and can confirm the current certification listing for the house directly with MARR.
More about our Addiction Recovery residency in Sanford, Maine
Enso Recovery's treatment paradigm includes purchasing homes in the counties where it operates programs in county jails. We currently operate MAT programs in Lincoln, York and Kennebec counties.
Residents of the MAT Recovery Residences have access to outpatient treatment programs situated in the immediate area that offer a range of services including intensive outpatient, groups, individual substance use and mental health counseling, case management as well as Yoga, meditation and art therapy.
Admission Information
Accept DOC Referrals
Clients on a methadone program eligible for admittance
Clients on suboxone maintenance program eligible for admittance
Contract Required
Interview Required for Admittance
Medication Allowed
Waiting List
Clinical and Support Services
Case Management Services Available
Group Counseling
Intensive Outpatient Available
Life Skills
Offsite Counseling
Facility Information
Women Only
Capacity: 8
Facility Level: Monitored - Level II
Neighborhood Facility: Inner City Residential
Primary Population Served: Substance Abuse Treatment Services
Residence Type: Duplex
Single Rooms Number: 8
Rules and Guidelines
Community Service Requirement
Must abide by house curfew
Must agree to random drug and alcohol screenings
Must attend outpatient treatment
Must attend weekly house meeting
Must seek full-time employment
Overnights and furloughs allowed
Utilities and Services Included
24 hour management available
24 hour on-site supervision
Cable TV
Electricity
Heat
Internet
Laundry Facilities
