An Angel's Wing
About An Angel's Wing
An Angel's Wing is a nonprofit in Lewiston, Maine that runs certified recovery residences for adults. Lewiston sits in Androscoggin County, and the organization describes itself as an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Androscoggin County and the State of Maine. Its houses now reach past that base into Kennebec and Cumberland counties, and the organization also states a wider New England focus.
About An Angel's Wing
An Angel's Wing, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established on May 24, 2017, in response to what it described as the alarming overdose deaths growing rapidly across the country. Local reporting gives the same founding year, describing An Angel's Wing as a Lewiston-based nonprofit founded in 2017 with the goal of helping community members in need find recovery. The organization is a member of the Maine Association of Nonprofits and appears on the Maine OPTIONS resource directory, the state's SAMHSA-funded overdose prevention program.
Its funding model is unusual for a recovery housing provider. An Angel's Wing built a thrift store operation modeled on Goodwill to pay for the work, in its own words opening a thrift store in order to fund people's rehabilitation. The first store opened in 2018 on Lisbon Street in Lewiston, and a second opened at the Auburn Mall in 2022.
Homes Operated by An Angel's Wing
The organization runs recovery homes across Androscoggin, Kennebec and Cumberland county towns. Women's and women-with-children homes are located in Winthrop, Bridgton and Lewiston, while LGBTQ+ and co-ed homes are located in Portland and Auburn. A further residence, Falls Family Recovery, is in Mechanic Falls. An Angel's Wing describes its houses as staff, peer and volunteer run, and when the Winthrop homes were announced the organization said they would be peer and volunteer run.
Applicants apply to a particular house rather than to one central list, and a telephone screening comes before approval. Residents must be 18 or older and in recovery.
Certification and Standards
An Angel's Wing residences are certified by the Maine Association of Recovery Residences, the body that certifies recovery housing in the state. Six residences appear in the MARR certified residence directory under the An Angel's Wing organization name:
- An Angel's Wing, Level 3
- Beth's House - Auburn, Level 2
- Beth's Place, Level 2
- Bridgton, Level 3
- Cory's Place, Level 3
- Falls Family Recovery - Mechanic Falls, Level 4
A 2023 entry on the Maine OPTIONS directory recorded three MARR certified recovery residences offering structured living, so the portfolio has grown since then. MARR levels describe how much structure and staff involvement a residence carries, and the An Angel's Wing houses are certified across several of them.
Who An Angel's Wing Serves
The organization's Maine OPTIONS listing records the populations it serves: formerly incarcerated people, the general population, LGBTQ+ people, pregnant and postpartum people, friends and family of people affected by substance use, people who are unhoused or housing insecure, and veterans. The Winthrop homes opened with a stated primary focus on the reunification of children in foster care, and the organization said those homes would include rules, drug testing, mandatory treatment, holistic healing and farm-to-table therapeutic activities.
Recovery Services Beyond Housing in Androscoggin County
An Angel's Wing is not only a housing provider. It operates an Intensive Outpatient Program that provides structured substance use treatment while participants live at home, provides Medication Assisted Treatment as part of a comprehensive recovery program, and offers individual substance and alcohol counseling. Its Maine OPTIONS entry also lists naloxone distribution, recovery support and substance use prevention among the services it provides. For someone weighing sober living in Lewiston, Auburn or the surrounding Androscoggin County towns, that combination means housing and outpatient support can come from a single organization.
