Sunshine for Humanity Recovery House

About this Recovery House

Sunshine for Humanity operates the Sunshine House, a certified sober living home in Eagle River, Wisconsin, in Vilas County, in the state's Northwoods region.

A WASH-Certified Sober Living House in the Northwoods

Sunshine for Humanity, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2008, and it opened the Sunshine House as a dedicated sober living program in 2017, alongside the homeless shelter and community store the organization has run for longer. The sober living house is certified through the Wisconsin Association of Sober Housing, the state's affiliate of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences, which commits the program to a published code of ethics, written disclosure of fees and rules, and an outside complaint process.

What Certification Establishes Here

Eagle River sits far enough from Wisconsin's larger cities that residents have fewer certified options to compare, which makes WASH certification carry extra weight for anyone evaluating recovery housing in Vilas County. Certification does it does mean the program answers to a body outside itself, something a purely private landlord arrangement cannot offer.

Admission and House Expectations

Sunshine for Humanity admits residents on a first-come, first-served basis, and applicants need to be able to care for their own personal needs and stable enough for communal living. The organization keeps a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol and drugs, with testing at admission and at random afterward, and it does not admit anyone with a conviction for a sexual crime. Those rules apply across the organization's residential programs and set the baseline for anyone considering the Sunshine House specifically.

Vilas County and the Northwoods

Eagle River is the seat of Vilas County and the commercial hub of Wisconsin's Northwoods, a region defined by distance more than density. Recovery housing options thin out fast once someone leaves the state's larger cities, and a resident at the Sunshine House is choosing one of the few certified programs serving the entire northern lakes region, not one option among many in a single neighborhood.