Myrtle II Men's Sober House

About this Sober House

Myrtle II is a men's recovery residence in Portland, Maine, one of two houses run by Myrtle Street Sober Living. Portland is in Cumberland County, and the house sits on the peninsula among the city's older residential streets, close to the fellowship and the services that make Portland the most practical place in Maine to rebuild after treatment.

Certification and Standards at Myrtle II

Myrtle II is certified by the Maine Association of Recovery Residences at Level 2. That level describes a monitored recovery residence: house rules, a house manager or senior resident with responsibility for the property, drug screening, and a peer-based structure, sitting between a purely self-governing sober house and a clinically supervised program. Certification also means an outside body has reviewed how the house is run, which gives a resident or a family member somewhere to go with a concern. In a state where anyone can hang a sign on a house and call it sober living, that review is the clearest distinction available.

Day-to-Day Life at Myrtle II

The house is twelve-step based. Residents find a sponsor and work the steps, and they attend two mandatory outside meetings and two mandatory in-house meetings each week. The operator describes Myrtle II as providing the more flexible program of its two houses, which in practice suits a resident who has already put some time together and is carrying a job, a family obligation or a school schedule alongside his recovery. Life-skills coaching, an accountability group and group events and outings run alongside the meeting requirement.

The Culture of the House

What distinguishes Myrtle Street Sober Living is less its rules than its orientation. The founder is in recovery and runs the houses himself, and he describes helping others as the essential part of his own sobriety, with the new guy as the lifeline at Myrtle Street. A house built on that premise gives arriving residents a place immediately, and gives established residents a responsibility. It is a peer culture rather than a staff culture, and it works best for men who want to be part of something rather than simply housed by it.

Portland's Recovery Community in Cumberland County

Portland has the deepest meeting schedule in Maine, a visible and long-established recovery community, and a concentration of counseling and outpatient providers that no other part of the state matches. It is also walkable and served by buses, which matters for residents who have lost a license. Cumberland County draws people from across southern Maine after treatment, so certified beds in the city do not stay empty for long, and it is worth approaching several houses at once rather than waiting on one.

Inquiring About Myrtle II

Because the operator runs both of its houses in the same city, the useful first conversation is about which house fits rather than whether a bed exists. Be direct about what you are managing, whether that is a work roster, a court obligation or a first attempt at sober housing, and ask what the house expects in the first fortnight. Ask how the two houses differ in practice, what the in-house meetings cover, and what the path out looks like when a resident is ready for his own place. Clear answers to those are the best early indication of a house that is run the way it describes itself.

One further point is specific to an operator with two houses in one city. If the house that suits you has no opening, ask whether the other one does and whether a move between them is possible later. Being placed in the sister house and transferring when a bed frees up is usually a better outcome than waiting outside the system for the exact placement you wanted, particularly in Portland, where the interval between leaving treatment and finding housing is the period in which the most ground is lost.

About Our Men's Sober Living Home at Myrtle Street Myrtle II at Myrtle Street provides a more flexible program requiring residents to actively seek work and participate in resident programs.Life Skills Coaching: Discuss challenges, solutions, achievement, goals, and more... Accountability Group: Meet once per week on Sundays to discuss Step Assessments, Next Steps, Reviews, Advice and more... Group Events & Outings: Outdoor Activities, Flag Football, Dodgeball, Bowling, Apple Picking, Food Outings, Movies, Museum Visits, Portland Pirates, Sea Dogs, etc... What To Expect Find a sponsor and work the 12 steps. Must attend two mandatory outside meetings. Must attend two mandatory in-house meeting per week. Must find employment or enroll in school. Must be active in AA. What To Bring Food Clothing Bath towel Personal toiletries Laundry basket Bedding for a twin bed (sheets, pillow & mattress protector with zipper)