About this Sober House
Terry House is a women's sober house on Van Buren Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in Ramsey County, the county seat and the state capital. It is operated by Journey's Homes, a small Saint Paul recovery housing company that also runs Kai House in the city.
A Women's Recovery Residence in Frogtown
Van Buren Avenue runs east and west through the Thomas-Dale neighborhood, generally called Frogtown, north of University Avenue. The location is one of the most connected in the city for someone without a car. The Green Line runs the length of University a few blocks south, buses cover Dale and Western, and the Rondo community library, grocery stores and clinics are all inside a short walk. For a woman in early recovery, that reduces the number of things that require a ride.
What a Small Women's Sober House Offers
Houses run by two-house operators work differently from large programs. The person who sets the rules is usually the person who answers the phone, admission decisions are made quickly, and a resident deals with an owner instead of a regional office. The trade is that a small operator publishes less and markets less, so an applicant has to ask directly for what a larger organization would post on a website.
Recovery Housing in the Ramsey County Seat
Saint Paul holds the Ramsey County courthouse, county human services, probation, child protection and a dense set of outpatient providers, along with Regions Hospital. Women arriving from treatment elsewhere in Minnesota usually settle in the city because it is the one address from which every obligation is reachable, and Frogtown sits near the geographic center of that network.
Questions to Ask This Saint Paul Sober Home
The questions that matter are the ones a house should answer before anyone signs: what the weekly or monthly fee covers, what deposit is required and how it is returned, whether a house manager lives on site, how many women share a room, whether medication for opioid use disorder is accepted, and what happens after a relapse. Minnesota's voluntary certification program, run by the Minnesota Association of Sober Homes, is built around getting those answers in writing, and any applicant can ask for them house by house.
Admission Requirements
-Be at least 30 days sober
-The ability to thrive in a group living environment
-Be working an active program of recovery including two (2) to four (4) 12-step meetings a week (AA, NA, CA, etc.), as well as weekly face-to-face sponsorship in order to actively work the 12 steps of recovery
-Attend IOP, employed, looking for employment, enrolled in school, volunteering, or doing some structured activities at least 20 hours per week
-Attend weekly house meeting
-Minimum of a three-month stay
-No overnight guests
-No pets (including emotional support
