About this Sober House
Established in 2018, The Friends House is a recovery residence for men in Rockland, Maine. Rockland is a coastal town in Mid-Coast Maine, in Knox County, and the house is certified through the Maine Association of Recovery Residences.
A Men's Recovery Residence in Rockland
The Friends House is the men's residence run by Mid-Coast Recovery Coalition, a nonprofit created to support individuals and families dealing with addiction issues. It has been open since 2018, which by the standards of recovery housing makes it an established house rather than a new venture, and it serves men in recovery from addiction in Mid-Coast Maine.
A residence with several years behind it tends to be a known quantity locally. Referral sources know it, former residents know it, and the house has had time to work out what it expects of the people living there.
Life at The Friends House
The house runs on program rules and guidelines which residents must adhere to. That is the basic bargain of recovery housing: a shared, substance-free home only stays that way if everyone in it accepts the same terms, and a house that sets those terms out clearly is easier to live in than one that leaves them to be discovered.
There is outdoor space, and inside there is a quiet space available where a resident can read, use a computer or simply sit for a while in reflection. That last provision is worth pausing on. In a shared house, somewhere to be alone without leaving the building is a genuine resource. It is also where the practical work of early recovery gets done, from job applications to appointments to the paperwork that tends to pile up after a period of chaos. Having somewhere in the building to do it, with a computer available, removes one more obstacle from a list that is usually long enough already.
Certification Through MARR
The Friends House is certified through the Maine Association of Recovery Residences, which the house says reflects the high standards required by MARR. The MARR certified-residence directory lists it independently, as The Friends House, Mid-Coast Recovery Coalition, Level 2, in Rockland.
For a man weighing up where to go after treatment, or for a family member making the calls on his behalf, that independent listing is the useful part. Any house can call itself sober living. A certified house has put its name against a published standard and can be looked up.
Recovery in Rockland and Mid-Coast Maine
Rockland is a working coastal town in Knox County, with a harbour, a seasonal economy and a year-round community small enough that people tend to know each other. That cuts both ways in recovery. It can be harder to disappear into anonymity, and easier to be known and held to something. Recovery housing in a town of that size means a resident can stay near work, family and whatever support they already have rather than moving to Portland or Bangor to find a bed.
The Friends House is one of two recovery residences run by Mid-Coast Recovery Coalition, whose mission is to support recovery from addiction in Mid-Coast Maine. The other is Alyssa's House, the coalition's women's residence in nearby Camden, also certified at Level 2. Between them the two houses give the mid-coast a certified option for men and a certified option for women without either group having to leave Knox County.
For anyone searching for a men's sober house in Rockland, recovery housing in Knox County, or a certified recovery residence on the Maine mid-coast, The Friends House is one of the certified houses in the area.
