Ho-Chunk Nation

About Ho-Chunk Nation

The Ho-Chunk Nation supports recovery housing for its enrolled members in Jackson County, Wisconsin, partnering with a local nonprofit to operate a women's respite residence near Black River Falls.

A Tribal Government Behind Recovery Housing

The Ho-Chunk Nation is a sovereign tribal government, and its involvement in recovery housing ties a residence's funding and oversight directly to the Nation instead of to a private landlord or a standalone nonprofit working alone. That backing is unusual among Wisconsin's recovery housing providers, most of which are small private operators or single-purpose nonprofits.

A Respite Model for Women in Recovery

The model the Nation supports is short-term respite instead of open-ended sober living: a bridge for women waiting on a treatment bed or actively working toward one. That is a narrower purpose than most sober houses serve, and it reflects a gap the Nation identified in its own community instead of a general housing shortage.

Jackson County and the Ho-Chunk Reservation

Black River Falls, the seat of Jackson County, sits at the center of a large stretch of Ho-Chunk Nation land in west-central Wisconsin, which is why the Nation's recovery housing work is based there instead of in one of Wisconsin's larger cities.

Certification Is Voluntary and Separate From Tribal Oversight

Wisconsin's certification system, run by the Wisconsin Association of Sober Housing, and the state's self-attested recovery residence registry are both voluntary programs open to any operator. A tribal government's own oversight of a residence on or near its land is a separate line of accountability from either one.