About this Sober House
Broadway is a men's sober living home at 1748 Broadway in South Portland, Maine. The house sits in Cumberland County, a short way south of Portland across the Fore River, and it is run by Freedom House as part of that organization's twelve-step-based sober living program for men.
Daily Life and House Expectations at 1748 Broadway
The house runs on a twelve-step framework, and the expectations attached to a bed are set out in advance rather than negotiated later. Residents attend twelve-step meetings, take a home group and work the steps with a sponsor. Beyond the meetings, the house asks for a measurable commitment of time to work, study or service, and it holds a house meeting every week that everyone is expected to attend.
- Twelve-step meetings, a home group and work with a sponsor
- A thirty-day probationary period at intake, with a curfew and no overnight absences
- At least twenty hours a week of work, school or service work
- A weekly house meeting that all residents attend
The probationary month is worth understanding before applying. New residents keep a curfew and stay in the house overnight during that period, which gives them a fixed routine at the point when routine is hardest to hold and gives the house time to see how someone settles in.
House Management and Peer Support
The men's homes have a full-time house manager, and each home also has a house leader who lives there and is available to the other residents for support. Those two roles do different jobs. The manager holds the standards, deals with intake and handles the things that need an adult with authority; the house leader is a peer who is doing the same work as everyone else and is on hand at the hours when a manager is not.
That structure matters most in the evenings and at weekends, which is when a resident is most likely to be alone with a bad idea. Having someone in the building who has been in the same position, and who is not there in a purely official capacity, is the practical form peer support takes at 1748 Broadway.
Who the Broadway House Serves
The house is for men in recovery, and admission is offered regardless of income, mental health diagnosis or criminal history. That is the organization's position across its men's houses, and it makes this house relevant to people who are commonly refused elsewhere, including men leaving incarceration and men who carry a psychiatric diagnosis alongside a substance use disorder.
The organization behind the house is peer-run and describes its wider purpose as peer-supported housing, outreach and other peer-run services, together with advocacy for genuinely peer-run services and system change. Someone considering the house is therefore joining a household, not enrolling in a clinical program.
Sober Living in South Portland, Maine
South Portland is one of Cumberland County's larger communities and sits immediately across the water from Portland, which puts the whole of the greater Portland recovery network within easy reach while keeping the house in a quieter residential setting. Broadway is one of the city's main routes, so bus service, shops and employers are close to hand, which matters when the house expects twenty hours a week of work, school or service.
The address has a history in Maine's recovery housing records. The statewide recovery residence directory published in July 2020 listed a Freedom House men's residence at 1748 Broadway in South Portland, so this is an established location rather than a recent opening. For men who want the structure of a twelve-step house without living in the middle of the city, the South Portland houses are the obvious pairing with Freedom House's Portland addresses.
About Our Men's Sober Living Program
We are a 12-step-based sober living program.
All residents are required to attend 12-step meetings, join a home group and work the steps with a sponsor.
There is also a 30-day probationary period where residents must be in the house at curfew (no overnights).
House chores are regularly assigned.
If residents miss curfew, violate house rules, or are otherwise disruptive they are placed on “contract†with the hopes that they will be able to maintain residence in the house and continue to grow in their recovery.
Drug and alcohol use is not tolerated. Any use is grounds for dismissal. Residents asked to leave due to a relapse can reapply after 30 days.
There are no refunds given on rent paid.
Residents also must be active in the community and perform service work, work, or go to school at least 20 hours per week and attend a mandatory house meeting once a week.
Residents may stay as long as they wish, and staff are available for support in transitioning to independence.
Residents in need of medical services, psychiatric care, or social services receive referrals and resources for those services upon entry. Help in obtaining employment and health insurance is also available.
