About this Sober House
Pax House is a women's sober living home on June Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, the seat of Worcester County. It is part of the residential recovery program network run by SMOC, the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, a large regional nonprofit that operates several women's recovery residences across central Massachusetts.
A Women's Sober House on June Street
This sober house in Worcester serves women in recovery, and its place inside a larger nonprofit's program network gives residents access to an organization with resources beyond a single address. June Street sits in a residential section of the city, within reach of Worcester's public transit and its concentration of outpatient behavioral health providers.
SMOC's Residential Recovery Program Network
SMOC Behavioral Healthcare runs a set of structured residential recovery programs supporting women recovering from substance use and co-occurring conditions. The organization's own description frames the work as short-term and structured, aimed at stabilizing residents before they move to the next stage of independent living. Pax House operates within that same network.
Worcester as a Recovery Housing Hub
Worcester is the seat of Worcester County and the second-largest city in Massachusetts, with a dense concentration of hospitals, outpatient clinics and courts that serve the surrounding towns. A resident at Pax House has access to that entire service base without leaving the city, which is a real advantage over recovery housing in the smaller communities nearby.
What SMOC Offers Beyond Housing
SMOC's addiction services extend past any single residence: the organization runs other named recovery programs for women in the region and positions its housing as one part of a continuum that includes case management and behavioral health support. That scale is part of what separates a nonprofit-run sober house from a single-owner one.
Applying to Pax House Through SMOC
Admission to Pax House runs through SMOC rather than through the house directly. Prospective residents can expect to be asked about their treatment history and current needs, consistent with how SMOC structures intake across its residential recovery programs.
Sober Living in Worcester, by SMOC
The SMOC Team has compiled a listing of information and resources to aid individuals and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guide is organized by municipality, and contains contact information for local food pantries, sexual and domestic violence support services, school schedules, fuel assistance, and more.
Sober House Operator's Mission
To improve the quality of life of low-income and disadvantaged individuals and families by advocating for their needs and rights; providing services; educating the community; building a community of support; participating in coalitions with other advocates and searching for new resources and partnerships.
SMOC's Vision
Organizing Resources For Social Change And Economic Independence
SMOC's Values
SMOC's employees, volunteers and Board members work to effect social and economic change according to the following principles:
-Respect for the dignity & value of every individual.
SMOC respects the dignity and inherent value in all individuals. We relate to each other, to community partners, and to clients with respect, kindness, sincerity, and compassion.
-Appreciation for the value of diversity and an end to racism and discrimination.
SMOC embraces and values diversity. We strive to reflect the diversity of our clients and the communities we serve by providing employment, board, and volunteer opportunities. SMOC recognizes that racism is a critical barrier to social change and economic justice.
- Freedom from violence including domestic violence and sexual assault.
SMOC believes every person has a right to be free from violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault, and is entitled to safety in their own homes and neighborhoods.
-The right to housing and the abolishment of homelessness.
SMOC believes housing is a right, not a privilege and that homelessness should be abolished. Every person has a fundamental right to a decent, safe, healthy and stable home. We also believe that any person without a permanent, habitable housing situation is homeless.
-The right to health care.
SMOC believes health care is a right and not a privilege. Every person has a fundamental right to quality, affordable and accessible health care.
-Freedom from hunger.
SMOC believes that hunger is an early warning signal of poverty and when food is so plentiful in the United States, everyone should have enough nutritious food to eat.
-The elimination of poverty.
SMOC believes every person has a right to be free from poverty. SMOC believes that poverty reflects the declining number of jobs paying decent living wages, an increasingly inequitable distribution of wealth, continuing racial divisions and the absence of low-income people from the political resolution of the problem.
-The right to work for a living wage.
SMOC supports the right of all people to work, be employed and earn a living wage.
-Easy access to social supports through co-location of social services.
SMOC believes low-income and disadvantaged people are best served when services they rely on to meet complex human needs are integrated, concentrated, and co-located in their communities.
-SMOC's Employees are its greatest strength.
SMOC recognizes its employees are its most valuable asset and values their contribution to the success of its mission. We also help and encourage our employees to realize their potential, individually and as a team, and recognize that each and every one can and does make a difference.
