New sober living recovery home for addicts opens in Ogden
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- David Sekulich, a case manager with Weber Human Services, stands in the doorway to a residence at a new sober living recovery housing complex in Ogden during an open house on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.
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- A bedroom inside a residence at a new sober living recovery housing complex in Ogden is pictured during an open house on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.
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- A bedroom inside a residence at a new sober living recovery housing complex in Ogden is pictured during an open house on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.
OGDEN — In partnership with Weber Human Services, UTurn Recovery Housing owner Justin Jensen is breaking down the stigma thrust upon those who, though suffering from an addiction, are trying to better themselves with the help and support offered in sober living.
The Weber Housing Authority joined Jensen and representatives from Weber Human Services on Monday to welcome the public to view Ogden’s newest sober living recovery home, on Lincoln Avenue.
The housing complex is a stepping stone in substance abuse treatment for all Weber Human Services clients.
Rather than placing those early in recovery into an unstable situation, going from one extreme environment to another, Jensen said sober living provides much-needed structure and accountability while residents learn how to live a sober life. That slow, cautious integration back into everyday life can help, he added, as residents become exposed to former triggers that are absent from a treatment center environment.
Wendy Davis-Cox, assistant program director of operations for Weber Human Services, said officials have known they needed structured housing and services in Weber County for roughly 15 years.
“We’ve already got quite the list (of clients),” Jensen said.
Weber Human Services clients, selected through a screening process, will be moving into the fully furnished temporary housing on Friday.
In addition to the 24 individual beds available for men and women, in three male units and three female units, there are four units for families.
According to Davis-Cox, Weber County only had a total of 30 beds available for sober living, including eight female beds, at Jensen’s Sober Living Recovery Home in South Ogden.
Jensen, frustrated by what he called the stigma and misinformation about sober living, said he had to put up a fight with the city, which reportedly did not want the new recovery housing unit built in its current location.
Sober living isn’t a bunch of addicts actively using and bringing drugs and crime into the community, Jensen said; they are just people who have an addiction and are trying to overcome it and better their lives.
“We are all connected in some way to someone who suffers from an addiction,” he said.
Sober living residents, while receiving support and assistance with time-driven goals, are required to work and pay rent.
Learning to be independent and deal with everyday stressors and struggles such as work and financial responsibilities is a part of the recovery process, Davis-Cox said.
Residents are asked to find work in their first 30 days as they will eventually be asked to pay rent within a month or two.
Rent increases by $100 each month up to $600. Davis-Cox said they need to keep the rent low in order for residents to save money to move on afterward.
The time frame for residents to transition into permanent housing can vary, depending on the situation, but generally are set at eight months for families and six months for individual clients.
In the past, Weber Human Services has not set time limits for residents, which Davis-Cox said has not worked out well.
“It’s out of sight, out of mind,” she said.
Setting goals with a specific time frame for accomplishing them holds residents accountable while also providing the structured environment some need in early recovery.
