About this Recovery House
Serenity House is a women's sober living home in Galloway, New Jersey, in Atlantic County. It is operated by the Hansen Foundation, a recovery housing nonprofit that runs ten residences across the county and works from a plain premise: the first year of sobriety is the year that decides the rest, and the real work begins once residential treatment ends. The house sits on the foundation's campus off East Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway Township.
A Women's Sober House in Galloway Township
Galloway Township is a large, mostly suburban municipality on the Atlantic County mainland, west of Absecon Island. Single-gender housing settles a set of questions before anyone unpacks. Bathrooms, house meetings and common space belong to one household, and one set of expectations covers everyone living under the roof. For a woman leaving treatment with a job she is trying to hold, a court date, or children she is working back toward, that predictability is most of the value. Mays Landing, the county seat, sits inland to the west, and the Jimmie Leeds Road corridor carries most of the medical and educational traffic in this part of the county.
What a New Jersey License Establishes for a Recovery Residence
New Jersey does not certify recovery residences. No state agency and no national affiliate issues a recovery residence certification here today, so a home advertising a certification level in this state is describing something that does not exist. What New Jersey does instead is license. A cooperative sober living residence is a Class F facility under the Department of Community Affairs Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards, and operating one without that license is unlawful. The Hansen Foundation holds Department of Community Affairs licenses on its recovery housing, which is a mandatory credential with a state file and an inspection history behind it. Anyone comparing options should ask how New Jersey recovery housing is licensed and funded before signing anything, and should also know that many sound homes in the state sit outside the Class F category entirely.
Structure and the Weekly Rhythm in a Hansen Foundation Sober House
The foundation publishes the same core expectations across its recovery homes:
- A weekly house meeting.
- Weekly attendance at a twelve-step meeting.
- House chores and volunteer hours.
- Working, or actively looking for work.
- Movement through a phase program as time in the house accumulates.
The phase structure is the part worth understanding before applying. Responsibilities and privileges both widen as a resident moves through the phases, so the house in month six is a different place from the house in week one. That gradient is what separates recovery housing from a rented room, and it is why length of stay matters here more than square footage.
Recovery Housing in Atlantic County and the Jimmie Leeds Corridor
East Jimmie Leeds Road is one of the few genuine service spines on the Atlantic County mainland. Stockton University sits on it in Galloway, and AtlantiCare's mainland hospital campus is a few minutes west in Pomona. A resident who needs a class, a clinic appointment and a shift on the same day can usually manage all three inside the township. Atlantic City lies east along Route 30 and Route 9, and that is still where most of the region's entry-level hospitality work is, with NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line running the mainland towns in. Atlantic County recovery housing concentrates along this corridor and the shore towns for exactly that reason.
Choosing Among Hansen Foundation Recovery Homes
Serenity House is one of ten residences the foundation operates in the region, and the organization also houses people enrolled in Enlightened Recovery's partial hospitalization program, most of them in Egg Harbor City. A woman applying here is applying to an organization with several addresses, which matters when a first placement turns out to be the wrong fit. Changing houses inside the same organization keeps the phase standing, the staff relationships and the county intact, and the conversation happens with people who already know her.
Our Mission
The Hansen Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide affordable, long-term, safe recovery residences, Â access to treatment, community programs, and the tools needed to lead healthy productive lives for people both new to and in long-term recovery. Â We advocate for persons with substance use disorders to reduce stigma in communities we serve while incorporating education about holistic wellness and sustainable recovery practices.
Our Vision
To see the Hansen Foundation be recognized as a national leader in Recovery Housing and Recovery Resources for those affected by the disease of addiction and their families. To maintain a strong 12-step philosophy while continuing to incorporate innovative techniques for a conscious sustainable recovery community.
