Transitional Living Communities

About Transitional Living Communities

Transitional Living Communities is a sober living operator based in Mesa, Arizona, in Maricopa County, running peer-managed recovery residences in cities across the state since the early 1990s. What began as a small intensive outpatient program built and staffed by people in recovery has grown into a network of sober homes stretching from the Phoenix area to Tucson.

A Peer-Run Sober Living Operator Since the Early 1990s

Transitional Living Communities describes its work as addicts helping addicts, a philosophy it has carried since starting an intensive outpatient program in 1992. The organization's staff and house leadership are drawn heavily from people who came through its own program, which shapes how it runs recovery housing: peer interviews instead of clinical intake, and a level system that rewards demonstrated responsibility rather than granting privileges up front.

Sober Homes Across Arizona

Transitional Living Communities operates sober living homes in five Arizona cities:

• Dana House, on Dana Avenue in Mesa.
• TLC Sober House, on 11th Avenue in Phoenix's Sunnyslope neighborhood.
• AJ House, on San Marcos Drive in Apache Junction.
• TLC Thurber House, on Thurber Road in Tucson.
• Recovery Casa Grande, on East 2nd Street in Casa Grande.

The footprint runs from the East Valley through central Arizona to Tucson, giving the organization a reach across three counties rather than a single metro area.

The Levels System Every Resident Moves Through

Every house runs the same structure. A new resident starts with two restricted weeks, leaving only for meetings or a job search alongside a peer who has already earned more freedom. A sponsor, a home group and steady work move a resident to Level One, with an 11 p.m. weekday curfew and midnight on weekends. Thirty days of compliance with no unpaid fees earns Level Two, which loosens the curfew further and adds periodic overnight and weekend passes.

An Open Door: Who Transitional Living Communities Houses

The organization accepts applicants regardless of ability to pay, and it houses people living with HIV. Its exclusion list is short: arsonists, sex offenders and anyone with active tuberculosis. For an operator running five houses across the state, that is a notably broad door, and it reflects a founding philosophy built around second, third and later chances rather than a narrow intake filter.

Beyond Housing: Treatment and Trade Skills

Transitional Living Communities runs a state-licensed outpatient treatment clinic alongside its sober living homes, and it pairs housing with vocational training in trades such as HVAC, roofing and painting. The organization describes itself as largely self-supporting, built on the idea that recovery housing works better when it is paired with a path to steady income rather than treated as a standalone service.

AzRHA Certification and AZDHS Licensing

Arizona runs two separate credentialing systems that apply to organizations like this one. The Arizona Department of Health Services licenses sober living homes at the state level, and the Arizona Recovery Housing Association separately certifies individual residences that meet its code of ethics. Recovery Casa Grande currently carries AzRHA certification; anyone comparing the operator's other addresses should ask which credential, if any, applies to the specific house.

Reaching Transitional Living Communities

Applications go through Transitional Living Communities directly, based in Mesa. The organization has run recovery housing in Arizona since the early 1990s, longer than most operators currently in the state, and the questions worth asking track that history: how the level system works at the specific house being considered, what the current fee and curfew structure looks like, and whether a bed is open now or on a waiting list.