Respite House

About Respite House

Respite House is a sober living operator in Valparaiso, Indiana, running two halfway houses for men in Porter County. The nonprofit, formally the Harold "Hal" Kelley Respite Foundation, Inc., traces back to Hal Kelley, a longtime member of the local recovery community who helped form the South Shore Area of Narcotics Anonymous in 1994.

A Porter County Recovery Housing Provider

Respite House has grown from a single 1978 building reconfigured for men's halfway housing in 2009 into a two-property nonprofit, adding a larger, purpose-built second house in 2020 and 2021 through a partnership with Project Neighbors and local volunteers. Both properties are staffed, with a director and assistant directors living on site.

Two Valparaiso Locations

Respite House runs two halfway houses in the city:

• Respite House I, on Chicago Street, a one-level building housing fifteen men.
• Respite House II, on Union Street, a two-story building housing twenty-two men and three staff.

Together the two properties give Respite House room for thirty-seven residents at a time, a meaningful scale for a single nonprofit operating in one Northwest Indiana city.

A Program Built Around Meetings and Sponsorship

Every Respite House resident is required to attend at least five recovery meetings a week, secure a sponsor, mentor or recovery coach, and take part in the daily chores and upkeep that keep the houses running. That structure is consistent across both properties, so a transfer between them does not mean learning a new set of expectations.

Working With Porter County's Courts

Respite House coordinates directly with Porter County's Problem Solving Court Programs, adjusting its own scheduling to help residents meet court requirements alongside house rules. That relationship gives judges, probation officers and case managers a known, cooperative housing option for people coming out of the court system.

Serving Porter County and Northwest Indiana

Valparaiso is the seat of Porter County in Northwest Indiana, part of the region Hoosiers commonly call the Region for its proximity to Chicago. Respite House's two properties give the county a locally rooted, community-built option for men's recovery housing, one grown almost entirely through local sponsors, volunteers and civic partners.