Forest House Men's Recovery House

About this Recovery House

Forest House is a men's sober living home in Columbia, Missouri, in Boone County, operated by Fresh Start Sober Living Programs and accredited by the Missouri Coalition of Recovery Support Providers.

A Men's Recovery Residence in a Residential Neighborhood

Recovery housing works best when it looks like the block it sits on. A house in an ordinary Columbia neighborhood gives a resident neighbors, a mailbox and an address he can put on an application, and it keeps the daily business of recovery private. The household is single-gender and peer-managed, with expectations that start the day someone moves in.

What MCRSP Accreditation Requires of a Sober House

Missouri's accreditation program is run by MCRSP and participation is voluntary. Accredited houses commit to a published code of ethics, to written disclosure of fees and rules before move-in, to a written relapse and discharge policy, and to complaint review outside the residence. Missouri publishes no levels for accredited houses, so the useful question is whether a house is on the roster and what its own rules say.

Respite, Transitional and Permanent Sober Living in One Program

Fresh Start runs a continuum. Peer respite handles the crisis, transitional housing handles the first year, and permanent supportive housing handles the people for whom stability requires an indefinite address. A resident of this house is inside that continuum, and moving between its stages is a conversation with the same organization.

Columbia, Boone County and Rebuilding a Routine

The county seat carries the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, MU Health Care and Boone Health, the University of Missouri, Stephens College and Columbia College, and a city bus network. Someone reassembling a life after treatment needs court, work, care and meetings to be compatible on the same Tuesday. In this region, Columbia is where that is possible.

Applying Through the Operator

The address of this house is not published and applications go to Fresh Start Sober Living Programs. Ask about availability, what the weekly fee covers, room configuration, the work or school expectation, and what support the operator offers with identification, benefits and long-term housing.