About this Recovery Home
Next Step Housing - 50th Avenue is a coed sober living home in Yakima, Washington, in Yakima County, one of the alcohol and drug-free residences the nonprofit has operated across the Yakima Valley since 1991.
Recovery Housing on North 50th Avenue
North 50th Avenue sits on the west side of Yakima, in a residential stretch removed from the busier commercial corridors closer to downtown. For a resident who wants distance from old routines without leaving the city, a west-side address like this one offers a quieter starting point.
A Tested, Zero-Tolerance Standard
Next Step Housing backs its alcohol and drug-free policy with monthly drug and breathalyzer testing across its portfolio. That standard applies to every resident sharing the building, which is what makes a coed household workable here: the rule is about substance use, not gender.
One Address in a Larger Housing Network
This home is one of more than two hundred units Next Step Housing manages in the Yakima Valley, serving people in recovery alongside people exiting homelessness and people with developmental disabilities. That range gives the organization room to move a resident to a different unit size if a household's needs change.
Yakima County Services Within Reach
Yakima is the Yakima County seat, and residents on the west side still have a short drive to the courts, outpatient providers and employers concentrated near downtown, without living in the middle of that corridor.
Applying for This Sober Living Unit
Applications go through Next Step Housing directly, which can confirm current availability and the testing requirements tied to this address.
About Next Step Sober Living Housing- Bicycle Apartments, LLC, Yakima, Washington
10 three-, 30 two- and 40 one-bedrooms
Small and large families with established sobriety
Single adults living with Developmental Disabilities (DD)
Veterans
 Housing / Awards
In 2015, Next Step Housing's (NSH) Pear Tree Place Apartments received the National Community of Quality Award for Exemplary Development for People with Special Needs from the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA);
Also in 2015, Keith Erickson, Maintenance Co-Superintendent, received the Maintenance Person of the Year Award from the Affordable Housing Management Association of Washington (AHMA-WA);
In 2013, Michael Ryckman, Maintenance Co-Superintendent, received the 2013 Success Story of the Year Award from AHMA-WA. This was the first award of its kind inspired by Mr. Ryckman's career with NSH;
In 2011, the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance presented NSH with the 2011 Movement Building Award for exemplary affordable housing advocacy;
In 2008, Diana McClaskey, NSH's Deputy Director, received the Community Hero Award for homeless advocacy services from the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless;
Also in 2008, Connie Cleary, NSH's Asset Manager, received the Site Manager of the Year Award from AHMA-WA;
Again that year, AHMA-WA also presented John Mifsud, NSH's Executive Director, with their 2008 Pioneer in Affordable Housing Award;
In 2007, NSH was awarded the Washington State Housing Finance Commission Friend of Housing Award;
In 2004, the NAHMA honored the Sommerset Apartments and NSH with the National Community of Quality Award for Outstanding Turnaround of a Troubled Property;
In 1997, NSH won the National Tax Credit Housing Coalition Award for Excellence
STAFF
John Mifsud (since June 1995)
Executive Director
Mr. Mifsud is celebrating 22 years as Executive Director of NSH. He has over 40 years of program design, implementation and management experience as well as 35 years of experience in property management and development in the private, non-profit and public sectors. A long-term housing advocate for people with special needs, Mr. Mifsud developed the first affordable, independent clean and sober housing units for families with children in the State of Washington. Mr. Mifsud has managed portfolios of 800+ units in four states including commercial properties and tax credit developments. A Certified Families for Self-Sufficiency Specialist, Mr. Mifsud also designed and supervised on-site case management services for a diversity of special needs populations in Washington. Currently, Mr. Mifsud manages all staff as well as finances, fundraising, land acquisition, new developments and major capital improvements for NSH.
Keith Erickson (since January 2010)
Maintenance Superintendent
Mr. Erickson shares the title of NSH Maintenance Superintendent with Mike Ryckman. Keith became sober in 2007 and has been working with NSH since 2010. He is active in the Yakima Narcotics Anonymous community. Keith says, “Working with people in recovery is really a dream come true for me. I love that I am on staff at Next Step. Being of service to my community helps keeps me clean and sober.â€
Rigoberto Dominguez (since April 2013)
Case Manager
Mr. Dominguez originally came to NSH as a resident in 2010. In 2012, he began working for NSH as a People 4 People intern through their Parents Work First Program. He was hired as a Case Manager to work with homeless veterans at Pear Tree Place III in 2013. He received his Associates of Applied Science in Chemical Dependency Counseling from Yakima Valley Community College in 2012 and completed his Bachelor of Science in Religion in 2012. Mr. Dominguez is bilingual and bicultural and also works for Yakima Memorial Hospital as a Chaplin focused on hospice and end of life care services. He sits on the hospital's Ethics Committee and Critical Incidents Team and is curren
Josh Shay (since January 2019)
Maintenance Specialist
Mr. Shay joined the NSH Maintenance Team after working as the Yakima Superior Court Community Service Supervisor. He worked with a range of Drug Court clients who helped the elderly with yard work and painted over graffiti throughout the City. More recently, he was also the Yakima County Juvenile Justice Restorative Community Service Leader where he coordinated young people doing community service at the Union Gospel Mission kitchen as well as cleaning up Yakima parks, lakes and streams.
