About this Sober House
Meridian House is a coed sober living home on Meridian Street in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in Suffolk County. It is a residential recovery program run by North Suffolk Community Services, a community mental health and addiction services organization that has served the area for decades.
A Coed Therapeutic Community in East Boston
Meridian House serves an adult population, men and women together, inside a structured therapeutic community model rather than a loosely supervised group house. The residence runs on a 24-hour basis, with staff present around the clock, which sets it apart from peer-run sober homes where a house manager may be the only supervision overnight. East Boston sits across the harbor from downtown Boston, connected by the Blue Line and several bus routes that reach the rest of Suffolk County.
Clinical Support Alongside Housing
Meridian House offers relapse prevention support that includes naltrexone and buprenorphine, medications used to treat opioid use disorder, alongside rational emotive behavioral therapy, trauma-focused counseling and dialectical behavior therapy. That combination means a resident does not have to choose between stable housing and continued clinical treatment, since both are organized under the same program.
North Suffolk Community Services as the Operator
North Suffolk Community Services runs Meridian House as part of its broader addiction support work in the Boston area. The organization's scale matters here: a resident whose needs change can be referred within the same organization rather than starting over with a new agency, and staff training and clinical oversight come from an established institution rather than an individual landlord.
Recovery Housing in East Boston and Suffolk County
East Boston is one of Boston's most residential neighborhoods and part of Suffolk County, which contains the city itself and several of the addiction treatment resources that serve it. A 24-hour staffed program in East Boston puts residents close to Logan Airport's job market as well as to Boston's hospitals and outpatient behavioral health providers, all within a short transit ride.
Massachusetts Certification and This Residence
Meridian House is not listed as certified through the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing, the state's NARR affiliate, which certifies peer-run sober homes rather than staffed therapeutic communities like this one. The distinction matters: MASH certification and round-the-clock clinical staffing serve different purposes, and Meridian House's model puts it closer to a licensed program than to a typical certified sober house.
Who Meridian House Serves
The program suits adults who need structured, staffed housing alongside active treatment for opioid or other substance use disorders, rather than residents who are ready for a lighter-touch, peer-managed setting. North Suffolk Community Services accepts referrals consistent with its role as an established community behavioral health provider in East Boston.
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.
Located in East Boston, the Fran Rowan Meridian House is a 30 bed, coed therapeutic community serving an adult population 18 and over. Meridian House is considered to be a High Intensity Residential Service. The program provides behavior modification treatment for individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder and co-occurring disorders. We provide medication assisted treatment for those individuals who meet the criteria and residents are treated for mental health disorders within NSMHA. This is a 24 hour a day program with 24 hour per day staffing.
The clinical structure at Meridian House includes 3 therapeutic clinical groups during weekday programming, on Saturdays programming has 1 clinical group and on Sunday's residents identify a recreation activity to promote peer support and healthy lifestyle development. Residents attend a minimum of 2 self-help groups weekly. Our therapeutic groups cover a broad range of issues and therapeutic methods to assist in recovery including expressive-therapy, mindfulness based stress reduction, conflict resolution and emotional processing groups. Meridian House utilizes a 5 tier level system which promotes growth by encouraging accountability, responsibility and recovery. Each resident is responsible for performing a daily job function which promotes daily living skills. At Level 3 residents are able to apply for jobs to support reintegration into the community. Length of time in the program varies as needed but averages 9-12 months. Residents can apply for graduation once at Level 3 according to completion of individualized treatment plan goals.
