Focus on Artesia Spring 2024 | Community Spotlight: The Bridge Sober Living Home

What if you were given thirty days to change your life?

A chance to go somewhere to learn new ways of thinking, develop different habits, and acquire tools that allow you to approach problems at home and work more satisfyingly and productively. Some of us currently experience this by participating in seminars through our jobs or churches. We can learn how to get out of debt, improve our marriage, or better manage our time. However, improvement is often short-lived. We return to former habits, soon realizing that deeply ingrained patterns govern how we react to various stimuli and hold tremendous sway over our lives.

In an attempt to deal with hurts, habits, and hang-ups we find various methods to mask what we may feel, and sometimes, these methods lead to addiction. Addiction is not a cognitive decision. No one wakes up one morning and says, “My next goal is to become addicted to drugs or alcohol.” Sometimes we choose healthy outlets to relieve stress. Other times we choose activities that, if left unchecked, can lead to addictions that slowly destroy us, creating a hurt that is more controlling than the original pain we were trying to mask.

Several years ago, a small group of individuals had a vision to open a facility where people coming out of addiction could practice new habits in a safe environment. Through working with Celebrate Recovery, a biblically-based program providing tools for overcoming many types of addictions, the need for a more focused mentoring period became apparent. This group of visionaries partnered with Life House in Carlsbad to assist in the program structure and implementation. In October 2022, The Bridge Sober Living Home was established.

The Bridge seeks to help people navigate sobriety in a safe space and guide a productive transition back into society. Through voluntary participation, men who have completed a 30-day rehab program may enroll. The program is faith-based and seeks to expand the participants’ ability to function with a sense of value and dignity. Through spiritual, moral, and ethical development, men can become valued employees, repair family relationships, learn household and budget management, become accountable to themselves and others, and identify and correct the basic issues that led to their addiction. Since its inception, twenty-seven men have experienced this program.

The home is not a handout, nor is it a place to disappear from obligations. In the 8-man facility, residents are required to be employed and pay rent, account for their location, and follow curfews. They share in household chores and maintenance, prepare meals, keep a neat room, support other residents, and participate in counseling and life-skills sessions.

Residents are also active in the community, being encouraged to attend church, volunteer, and be leaders in Celebrate Recovery. They work monthly in the United Way food drive in Artesia. Many men have reached out to school-age students in various community programs to share the problems that come from drug and alcohol addiction and how making choices to walk away is so important. They have provided hours of yard maintenance for a summer youth camp and others in need of this service.

In October 2023, The Bridge opened a second home for 4-5 men who have completed the sober living phase and are ready to live independently. This home places greater responsibility on the residents and is available for those who are ready to accept their obligation as good men in society.

The Artesia community has been generous in supporting The Bridge. They have given furnishings for the home, taught classes, and given encouragement along the way. Supporting those struggling with life’s hurts takes a village of people who are willing to reach out and make a difference. We have been blessed by the generosity and compassion in our community.

Our goal is to bring together men who are ready for a new life and show them what it means to live in a home, be surrounded by people who care, have a safe place to heal, and know God. There is a great need for a similar place for women, and we are actively seeking the means to purchase and operate such a home.

If you are drawn to this ministry or if your family has been touched by addiction, we are always available.