Women's sober living near San Bernardino

San Bernardino has more places sending women into recovery housing than any other city in the county. The Justice Center on Third Street runs the drug court, the mental health court, the veterans court and the GIRLS court. Gibson House and Time for Change both discharge women who need somewhere sober to land. What it does not have is enough beds for them.

Treatment and hospitals

The referral picture here is unusual, because two of the largest sources are women-only programs. Gibson House Recovery Center for Women, 1069 North D Street, (909) 888-6956, holds 60 licensed women-only residential beds (DHCS licensed facilities). Time for Change Foundation, 2164 N Mountainview Avenue, (909) 886-2994, is a women's reentry provider (DHCS).

Neither is a competitor. Both are treatment and reentry programs, which means both are constantly discharging women who need a sober place to live next. That is the referral relationship this house is built for. We provide housing only — no clinical care, no counselling, no case management.

Women's meetings

Two women's meetings run out of the Arid Club, 4113 N Sierra Way: Sunlight Women's Meeting, Tuesdays 8:00 a.m. and A Woman's Way Through The 12 Steps, Wednesdays 4:00 p.m. (Inland Empire AA).

Residents pick their own recovery support program, secular or faith-based. We do not designate a program, require a particular meeting, or hold meetings at the house.

Survivors of domestic violence

Some of the women we house are leaving an abusive home rather than a treatment bed. For them the housing question is the whole question — the practical alternative to a bed is often going back to the person she left.

We do not publish the address of the house. It is given only to accepted residents and to the agencies that refer them. And to be clear about what this is: Her Aria is not a licensed domestic violence shelter. We do not provide protective services, security services, legal advocacy, restraining order help or safety planning. Those stay with a woman's own advocate, attorney and law enforcement agency.

More on housing for survivors of domestic violence, including who pays for it.

The county's DV resources here include Option House, hotline (909) 381-3471, and the District Attorney's victim services (SB County DA).

What San Bernardino doesn't have

Three certified residences and six network listings for a city of 222,292 (CCAPP; Sober Living Network). Against four collaborative courts, a 60-bed women's program and a women's reentry provider, that is not enough — and almost none of it is women-only.

We are 35 minutes west: women only, gated, MAT welcome, one monthly fee, no deposit. Refer a client.

Getting here from San Bernardino

Omnitrans connects San Bernardino west through the valley toward the house, and Metrolink's San Bernardino Line runs the same corridor (Omnitrans). Residents keep their own jobs, prescribers and court dates — getting to them without a car is the test that matters.

Referrals answered the same day. Refer a client or see what's included.