About this Sober House
Elliott Bell House is a men's recovery home in Rochester, New Hampshire, in Strafford County, operated by The Freemen House at 482 Charles Street. It is a New England-style home near the city's downtown, and the most amenity-rich residence in the organization's portfolio.
Inside This Rochester Sober House
The house holds six bedrooms and two full bathrooms, one of them under post-and-beam ceilings with a jacuzzi tub. The living room keeps its original brick fireplace and large windows, and a sunroom-styled dining addition with floor-to-ceiling windows serves as the room where the household eats together. Hardwood runs across the second level. Outside there is a patio, grills, a fire pit and a basketball court, and the house has an indoor gym. Those details matter more in recovery housing than they would in a rental listing, because a house with somewhere to go in the evening is a house men stay in.
A Shared Backyard and a Peer Community
The residence shares a backyard with a companion house in the organization, and the two hold community events together. The Freemen House runs all of its addresses as one 12-step, substance-free community built on safety, structure and peer mentoring through the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Men who accumulate time can apply for leadership roles, so the household is run in part by residents who moved through the same program. Utilities and internet are included at most locations.
Recovery Housing in Rochester and Strafford County
Rochester is the largest city by land area in Strafford County and the commercial center for the county's northern half, with Dover holding the county seat fifteen minutes south on the Spaulding Turnpike. Frisbie Memorial Hospital, the district court, outpatient providers, the downtown around Rochester Common and the industrial employers along the turnpike are all inside the city. Men from Farmington, Milton, Somersworth and the Lakes Region edge of the county generally find Rochester is the nearest place where housing, treatment and work are in the same town.
Certification of This Rochester Recovery Residence
The Freemen House is listed as certified in Rochester by the New Hampshire Partnership for Recovery Residences, the agency the state designates to certify recovery residences. Certification is voluntary in New Hampshire, and it is the gate on the New Hampshire Voluntary Recovery House Registry: agencies and vendors spending state or federal money may refer only to houses on that registry. It also binds the residence to written fee and rule disclosure, a published relapse and discharge policy, and a complaint process that reaches outside the house.
Who This Sober Living Home Suits
The house fits a man coming out of detox, residential treatment or incarceration who wants a 12-step program, a structured household and somewhere to spend the hours between work and bed. Anyone who needs clinical supervision on site is a poor match, since treatment here comes from providers elsewhere in the city. Applications go through The Freemen House, which considers an applicant across its Dover and Rochester residences.
