Hope House Female Transitional House

Hope House Women’s Transitional House

our sober living home

Location: Hampden and Buckley, Aurora

When I first had the thought that I would be going to sober living, I was in a state of disbelief, I thought to myself, “My life is over. I am moving into one of ‘those places’ that I swore I would never move into. This is a life-sentence.” I was nervous, I didn’t know what to expect, and on top of that I get social anxiety which makes getting to know new people a terrifying thing.

I moved into Aurora Sober living and prepared myself for the worst– going through every possible negative scenario in my mind about how I would be treated, and I felt alone. However, I soon found that my fears were dispelled though the empathy and camaraderie I received from the women there who too were going through the same exact thing that I was going through; women who were to become my guides, mentors, and in some cases almost like sisters that would be there so that I wouldn’t lose my way… and so I wouldn’t feel alone.

Sober living is a unique situation (that’s for sure) and whenever you get a group of diverse personalities together there is bound to be commotion, but somehow during all of the business at house meetings, shared laughs at meals, and occasional gumshoe investigations over who-ate-who’s food, connections form and before long I found myself surrounded not by house mates, but friends that I found I could place trust in.

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Women’s Sober Living Aurora

Capable, confident, sober women!

This gave me the necessary steady home base and the confidence to further branch out into activities such as sober team sports. I soon found my free time filled with sober softball and volleyball, rediscovering my love for playing sports and being active which has proven to be not only a fantastic arena for meeting new sober individuals, but has indeed become a cornerstone in my recovery.

Gradually, I found my social anxiety slipping away around these people who were no longer nameless spectres haunting my wildest imaginations, but friends that wanted to see me do well just as much as I wished the same for them; I felt human once more. I was slowly figuring out the fact that recovery isn’t done in a bubble, and that it takes fellowship and working with others in order to work. Hope house has gone even further as to provide a recovery coach that comes to the house to work with the residents while on their journey of sobriety, acting as a wealth of resources related to recovery, a steadfast motivator for me to actually make and accomplish goals that I set, and a wellspring of experience, strength, and hope that has seen me through some of life’s tougher situations–on life’s terms.

This facet of my recovery would not be possible without their time and compassion, both of which I am extremely grateful for as they have allowed me to open up and be honest about where I am in my recovery. They have become friends that push me to attain my true potential, something I hadn’t even considered at one time.

Hope house has not only been a safe and comfortable place to live, but has also presented myself and many other women with opportunities to engage with other individuals in recovery through participation in team sports, gatherings, and meetings held around the Aurora area. In addition, it has granted myself along with others the chance to “move up” through the houses to eventually earn the position of house manager, a role that has allowed me to experience responsibility in an entirely new way, and I have seen others recognize my growth from that nervous girl who was too terrified to do anything without a substance in my system into a capable, confident, sober woman.