About this Sober House
Foundation House - 42 Mellen Street is a men's recovery residence in Portland, Maine, and one of three Portland addresses recorded under the Foundation House name. Mellen Street runs through downtown Portland, in Cumberland County, and the house has been described as a Foundation House facility in the downtown part of the city. It appears in Maine's July 2020 Recovery Residences Directory alongside 235 State Street and 40 Deering Street as one of three properties listed against the organization, all of them serving men.
The House on Mellen Street
What separates this address from its two siblings is chiefly where it sits. Mellen Street is a downtown Portland street, and the property there is a residence rather than a clinical building. Foundation House delivers its clinical hours at 160 Preble Street, a separate address in the same city, so nothing about 42 Mellen Street is set up as a treatment site. The men living here start their day at the clinical building and return to a furnished house on a residential downtown street. For a lot of people in early recovery, that separation matters more than it sounds. Sleeping somewhere that feels like a home rather than a facility is part of what makes a residential program bearable over months rather than weeks.
Who the Mellen Street Residence Serves
This is men's housing. The July 2020 state directory recorded the whole Foundation House group as serving men, and the wider organization describes itself as providing behavioral health and substance abuse treatment for men. The clinical side of the program is substantial: Foundation House states that it incorporates a fully licensed Intensive Outpatient Program in which clients receive a minimum of nine clinical hours each week. A man considering 42 Mellen Street is therefore considering a program, not just a room, and the two arrive together.
Standards, Certification and Accreditation
Recovery residence certification in Maine is voluntary and is awarded by the Maine Association of Recovery Residences. Foundation House was recorded as MARR: NO in both the 2019 and the 2020 state recovery residence directories, and it does not appear in the current MARR certified list, so 42 Mellen Street is not a MARR-certified residence. The organization running it is accredited by the Joint Commission on the clinical side. Those two facts answer different questions, and it is worth being clear about which one matters to you: one describes how a house is run as housing, the other describes how a treatment program is run.
Sober Living in Downtown Portland
A downtown Portland address puts the practical parts of early recovery within reach without a car. Portland is where much of southern Maine's treatment capacity, its recovery community and its employment sit, and Cumberland County listings in this directory cluster heavily in and around the peninsula for that reason. Mellen Street is part of that downtown fabric. For men coming from smaller Maine towns, or from out of state, the density is usually an advantage in the first months, when appointments, work and community all have to be rebuilt at once and doing so on foot is simpler than doing it by car.
Inquiring About 42 Mellen Street
Because Foundation House treats housing and clinical programming as one offer, inquiries about this address go through the organization rather than to the house itself, and placement across its Portland residences follows from that conversation. Anyone comparing options should also look at the two sibling listings in this directory, 235 State Street and 40 Deering Street, which are separate houses under the same program. The Foundation House operator page in this directory covers the program, the accreditation and the wider Portland footprint; this listing covers the Mellen Street address itself.
Our Men's Sober Living Drug and substance Addiction recovery- Maine
Finding the right fit between the individual and their program of recovery is the first step to success. At Foundation House, we work with clients whose needs align with our core beliefs, clinical experience, physical environment and programmatic philosophy. Our unique blend of trust, freedom and support engages our residents in the process of healing and helps them rebuild their lives in a real-world setting.
Our long list of offerings also includes gym memberships, yoga, cooking classes, holistic health lessons, a float spa, woodworking, travel, volunteer programs and sports leagues. We keep our residents busy, but surround their structured time with freedom and autonomy that allows them to feel uniquely trusted and an active part of their recovery process.
Safe Supportive Recovery Environment
By the end of a resident's stay at Foundation House, he has found stability in daily life, is able to practice personal accountability and is equipped to begin a life of independence. Graduates begin to integrate into our Alumni Program and we assist in the process of finding housing in Portland, planning a move home, going back to school or transitioning to a step-down program of their choice.
It is essential that residents' commitment to Foundation House be matched by our own. Every minute of every day is an opportunity to find a moment of impact and insight. From making the bed, to making amends we are with them every step of the way.
Sober living homes are group residences for people who are recovering from addiction. In most instances, people who live in sober homes have to follow certain house rules and contribute to the home by doing chores. Most importantly, residents must stay sober throughout their stay in the home.
