The Shepherd's House

About The Shepherd's House

The Shepherd's House is a veteran-focused sober living operator in Fort Wayne, Indiana, running a residential recovery program in Allen County built specifically around military service and reintegration.

A Veterans' Nonprofit Founded by a Fort Wayne Family

Lonnie and Barb Cox founded the organization to build an environment tailored to veterans working through both the physical and emotional sides of returning from deployment, and both have received the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of Indiana's highest honors for public service. The organization keeps a working board and a paid clinical staff instead of running on volunteers alone, part of why it has stayed active long enough to become a known name among Fort Wayne's veteran services providers.

Clinical Staff Alongside Housing

The Shepherd's House employs a licensed social worker, case managers and clinicians trained in dialectical behavioral therapy, and it runs a dedicated trauma recovery meeting in addition to standard 12-step and AA meetings. That staffing model is closer to a clinical program than a peer-run sober house, built around the co-occurring mental health diagnoses common among veterans recovering from substance use.

A Network Reaching Local Courts and Elected Officials

The organization's supporters and referral network include Fort Wayne's mayor, Superior Court judges and members of Indiana's congressional delegation, a level of local institutional backing unusual for a single-site recovery program. That network functions as an informal referral pipeline, connecting veterans coming out of the courts or the VA system directly to the organization.

Serving Allen County's Veteran Population

Fort Wayne is the seat of Allen County and the largest city in Northeast Indiana, with a regional VA presence and a concentration of the social services a veteran needs while rebuilding stability. The Shepherd's House works specifically within that veteran-focused slice of the county's recovery housing.