About Us
This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable purposes. The purposes for which this corporation is formed are exclusively charitable within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. In general, this corporation shall assist Mature Women in recovery with long term housing needs, other needed resources and discovering their strengths to better their lives. Please contact us if you'd like to donate or get involved with the cause, thank you!
Meet our Co-Founders
My name is Julia, my Sober Date is August 23, 2001 and I was 49 years old when I found Sobriety. I'm a Recovering Alcoholic/Addict with 18 years of long term sobriety. In these 18 years of Recovery, there have been some ups and downs; after all in recovery we must accept "life on life's terms". Today, I can honestly say I WOULDN'T trade one bad day in recovery for the best day I ever had drunk! I am successful in my Recovery through spiritual tools I have been freely given through the 12 Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the most important tools is continuing to be of Service. My explanation of the importance of Service is, " I can't spend much time on my own considerations if I am thinking of SERVICE to another human being", specifically my Community here in San Diego. Let me tell you part of my early recovery story:
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In early Recovery one of my biggest struggles was finding Safe Affordable Quality Serene Sober Housing. I had just completed a 90 day rehabilitation treatment for Alcoholism and I needed to take the next step and find a place where I was not only safe from former life style friends who still drank and used but in a community that understood my fears, my struggles, my doubts, a place where I could feel supported in working a true Addiction Free life style, a SOBER LIVING. "What needs to change for an Alcoholic?" EVERYTHING! All places, people, and things".
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Originally from Orange County (OC) the housing prices were too expensive and I had to couch surf for a few months while I searched endlessly for that Quality Sober Living. Fortunately, I met a new friend at an AA/Al-Anon Conference in May 2002, so I decided to move in with her as a roommate down in San Diego. She didn't have a drinking problem, however she had a couple of family members with addiction issues and therefore participated in Al-Anon, a program for Families of Alcoholics . Thus she was familiar and respected my 12 Step Program. What changed? EVERYTHING! Stable Quality Housing allowed me to find a nearby Sponsor and really work my steps and regularly be of service at local meetings all of which contributed greatly to my Long Term Continuous Sobriety! Here's where the great story continues...
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My name is Heather​, I am the friend Julia met and moved in with back in 2002! I attend Al-Anon because I am surrounded by Alcoholics and Addicts; a couple of them have long term sobriety and others still suffer the ill affects of addiction and I wanted to be better educated about addiction and learn how I could best support them while keeping my primary focus on my needs. Eventually, we started a small Sober Living at the house where we resided, but I had to shut it down during my last deployment which changed from 2 months to 10 months in length. I have served 20 years between the Army and Coast Guard Reserves and following my retirement, I completed a Masters in Social Work with a focus on Military and Addiction issues. During 2019, we decided to put together a Non-Profit so we could properly serve the female Senior Sober Community and Female Veteran Sober Community with long term housing and thus was born 12-Steppers, Inc.