In 1951 Beatrice Jorgensen founded Friendly House, which was the first alcohol rehabilitation program created by women for women. The mission of Friendly House is to “provide women seeking recovery from alcohol and other substance use disorders with a safe, structured, and supportive home-like environment that fosters recovery, personal growth, and civic responsibility.” It is a non-profit, state licensed and JCAHO accredited treatment center offering a full continuum of care which includes detox, residential and sober living. Friendly house aims to help a client reclaim her dignity and acquire the knowledge, skills, support, and resources she will need to maintain a drug-free, intentional, and productive life. Friendly House has historically and continues to offer extraordinary guidance and support to women in recovery through:
- Personalized treatment plans: Friendly house is a high-quality residential treatment program that is acutely aware of the fact that everyone is unique with nuanced recovery needs. Therefore, to ensure each client’s needs are met, a customized treatment plan is developed that considers all treatment approaches, and incorporates the best possible treatment modalities, expressly geared to each female’s personal needs.
- Its residential environment that promotes healing with minimal distractions: Gender specific facilities, like Friendly House, eliminate many of the temptations that can arise when living in a co-ed situation. Research indicates that “destructive living environments can derail recovery for even highly motivated individuals.”
- Female-centered perspective: As an all-female treatment facility, Friendly House can prioritize and cater to the unique needs of women throughout every stage of the recovery process. Additionally, with the comprehensive range of services offered at Friendly House, it provides its clients with an element of consistency and comfort that encourages longstanding recovery. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the length of time an individual spends in substance abuse treatment can directly increase her outcome in recovery.
- Aftercare services: Friendly House provides each of its clients with a tailored aftercare plan. An aftercare plan is a co creation between the individual and her clinical treatment team that is developed during treatment. This serves as a personalized resource that provides individuals with both detailed and broad guidance, often including suggestions for how to navigate challenges post treatment, strategies for relapse prevention, and more to help with continued sober success. As a female-only program, Friendly House is exceptionally equipped to provide female-focused relapse prevention suggestions and resources to its clients. Additionally, Friendly House is well-connected in the aftercare community, which provides clients with greater access to follow-up counseling programs and other means of aftercare assistance in support of maintaining sobriety.
Friendly House has been on the frontlines saving women’s lives from the devastation of drug and alcohol abuse for over 70 years and continues to evolve to offer cutting edge support that best accommodates the ever changing, diverse issues women/ non-binary individuals seeking recovery face.
For Information and Support Substance abuse and addiction can be incredibly dangerous and can result in severe short and long-term consequences. If you or someone you know is suffering from substance abuse or addiction, please get help as soon as possible. The earlier you seek support, the sooner you and your loved ones can return to leading happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. There is no reason to go through this alone, and we are here to help. Please feel free to reach out to us for further information or with any questions regarding substance abuse or addiction. We are available anytime via telephone at: 213-389-9964, or you can always email us at: info@friendlyhousela.org.
