House of Friends

About House of Friends

House of Friends is a sober living operator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, providing recovery housing for military veterans in Bernalillo County. It was established specifically for veterans who have committed to getting free of alcohol and drug use.

A Veteran-Focused Recovery Housing Provider

Most sober living operators take anyone who qualifies. This one defined its population at the outset and built the program around it. The organization's stated understanding is that veterans carry a particular set of circumstances into recovery, and it designs the household accordingly. In practice that means shared reference points, a shared relationship with the veterans health system, and men who do not have to explain their history to each other before they can work.

A Twelve Step Sober Living Operator

The program is modeled on the twelve steps. Its stated aims are life-coping skills and employability, and it treats sponsorship, unity within the household and regular meeting attendance as the mechanism that produces both. The expectation is three outside meetings a week plus a weekly house meeting, which sets a floor on how much recovery work a resident is doing. The operator publishes its house rules, a mission statement and an introduction letter, so an applicant can read the terms before deciding.

What This Albuquerque Sober Living Operator Expects

Everyone applies online, including volunteers, and the operator uses the application to judge fit in both directions. The published goals for a resident are concrete: repair relationships with family, establish employment, rebuild physical and mental health, and build a spiritual foundation. The organization's measure of success is a man returning to ordinary productive life, and it says so plainly.

Recovery Housing Providers in Bernalillo County

Albuquerque holds the state's largest concentration of veterans, drawing on Kirtland Air Force Base and the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center, and it holds most of New Mexico's treatment and outpatient capacity. New Mexico certifies no recovery residences and has no affiliate of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences, so a veteran comparing operators in the county is judging them on published rules, tenure and reputation. An operator with a defined population and written expectations is an easier thing to check than a landlord with a spare room.