Recovery housing is more than just a place to stay—it’s a community that fosters accountability, growth, and resilience. Guests form strong bonds with their peers, supporting each other through challenges and celebrating successes. This sense of community builds lasting resilience, empowering guests to thrive in recovery and beyond.
Operators
The Vanderburgh Foundation, Inc is pleased to welcome you to explore the Vanderburgh Sober Living community.
Vanderburgh Sober Living is a membership organization serving recovery home operators–individuals and organizations who lead and manage recovery housing which services guests in recovery from substance use disorder.
For someone interested in joining our community as a VSL Chartered Operator, you’re not just exploring an opportunity – you’re unlocking growth potential, supported by an incredible mission-focused community of operators making a difference in their communities.
Why Effective Recovery Housing Matters
Recovery housing rebuilds communities, reunites families, and saves lives. Recovery housing plays a vital role in supporting individuals on their path to long-term recovery. It provides a structured, supportive environment that fosters stability, accountability, and community, all of which are crucial for sustained recovery.
Recovery housing provides guests an opportunity to rebuild their lives
Recovery housing offers a stable, structured environment where guests can focus on rebuilding their lives. Free from the triggers and instability of their past, individuals have the opportunity to develop healthy habits, regain their independence, and rediscover their sense of purpose. Recovery housing is not just a temporary solution—it’s a launchpad for long-term recovery.
Recovery housing represents a deep sense of community, focused on recovery
Recovery housing is led by peers and allies
Recovery housing is guided by those who understand the challenges and rewards of the recovery journey—peers and allies committed to supporting others. It represents an opportunity for guests to grow into peer mentorship roles, and for House Mentors to even become operators of their own homes. This peer-driven leadership fosters a compassionate, empathetic environment where everyone has the chance to thrive. With access to the right tools and resources, operators lead with confidence, ensuring both the guests and the recovery community can flourish.
What’s the Key to Effective Recovery Housing?
A Supported Operator
Running a recovery home on your own can be challenging. Without the right support, operators often face burnout, inefficiencies, and difficulty maintaining standards. That’s why supported operators are more successful in sustaining effective recovery housing. Here’s what operator support looks like:
- Community and Peer Support: A network of fellow operators to provide guidance, encouragement, and shared experiences.
- Resources and Knowledge: Access to operational guidance, regulatory updates, and best practices to fill knowledge gaps and run homes efficiently.
- Tangible Tools and Services: Custom software, financial management tools, and compliance templates that streamline daily operations.
Learn about our community
Our community of Chartered Operators represents passion, dedication, and excellence in the field of sober living. Our members are how the mission of VSL becomes a reality. Here’s who is involved:
The Vanderburgh Foundation
The Vanderburgh Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Webster, Massachusetts and recognized as a 501(c)(3) Charitable Foundation. The Foundation’s primary mission is to ensure access to a supportive, affordable, and sustainable home for each person on a recovery journey—this is accomplished four ways:
- We develop and promote standards for the operation of recovery housing
- We lead VSL—a membership organization for recovery home operators
- We provide Charters to independent operators; granting membership in VSL
- We provide our members with a suite of membership benefits and Platform Services
Vanderburgh Sober Living™
Vanderburgh Sober Living™ (VSL) is a membership organization for recovery home operators. Members, known as Chartered Operators, join the VSL community united with a passion to offer the best in recovery housing and commit to upholding high standards of care and support, ensuring that all Chartered Homes offer consistency to guests and meet the best practices in our field.
What is a “Charter”?
A Charter grants membership in the VSL Community. The Foundation commits to support member-Operators, and members commit to operate with integrity and excellence.
Become a VSL Chartered Operator
Chartered Operators join the VSL community from a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience. You don’t have to currently operate a home to become a Chartered Operator; most of our members join before they’ve opened their first home and work with us to learn how to open their first home.
- Our members can be entities or individuals and operate either for-profit or not-for-profit
- Members remain independent while guided by the our community’s mission and values
- There are no membership dues or up-front fees; just a commitment to excellence in our field
Charter Candidates
Charter Candidates join us from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, from recovery professionals, to retirees, to mission-focused entrepreneurs. Candidates undergo an evaluation and admissions process to ensure they are properly informed and committed to providing exceptional recovery housing. The first step in becoming a Chartered Operator is to submit a Consultation Request Form.
Ready to take the next step?
This is why we are passionate about recovery housing:
- We meet guests where they are: We offer the right balance of structure, peer support, and independence to create a recovery-focused environment, helping guests build healthy habits and regain stability during a critical stage of their recovery journey.
- We build recovery communities: By fostering accountability and shared responsibility, we create environments where guests support one another. We collaborate with local partners, engage with neighbors, and connect with service providers to build a strong community that supports long-term recovery.
- We empower House Mentors: We offer House Mentors the opportunity to develop leadership skills and deepen their commitment to sobriety while guiding others in their recovery, helping them grow personally and professionally–many becoming recovery home operators themselves.
- We financially sustain our own operations: Recovery housing is designed to be fully self-sustaining. Through the rent collected from residents, we ensure that our operations remain financially viable, allowing us to continue supporting our mission and expanding recovery housing opportunities.