SAS Residences offer Participants and their children a safe, kind place to live and the opportunity to implement the tools and life skills they learn in SAS day Programs.
We consistently hear from Participants and alumni of the SAS Program that the volunteer live-in model is instrumental in their healing. Healing comes through a residential model that is not a group home, but rather four women sharing a home in a child-friendly neighbourhood, where each roommate takes responsibility for creating a healthy living environment.
The five Front Line houses are where women live when they first enter the SAS life skills Program. It's a place where they can stabilize their recovery and learn positive cleaning and lifestyle skills in a warm, loving environment. The Live-In volunteer aims to model the attitudes and life skills taught in the day Programs. Each Participant has her own room and can stay between 6 and 12 months.
There are 10 Transitional Apartments for Participants who are finishing their SAS lifeskills Program, or past Participants seeking support who are employed or who are in school. They enjoy more independent living (separate apartments) in a safe, supported community environment, where a Live-In volunteer is available. The Apartment Manager supports tenants in applying skills that are needed when they move (addressing loneliness, landlord/tenant procedures, budgeting and problem-solving, etc.).
When I first moved into one of the front-line houses I did not like the curfew or rules, but I felt like I was with people that really cared. My live-in was warm and friendly. I really felt like she cared about me as a person and was not judging me. It did not take me too long to realize that she was there for me! And I was amazed when I found out she was not being paid - she was volunteering her time for me and the other women who came into the house. This made me look at things differently.
When I moved out of the front-line housing and into the transitional apartments, I felt the same warm welcoming from the two apartment mangers at the time. ... About a year after I graduated from SAS I had an opportunity to become a live-in for the transitional apartments as an apartment manger... I felt honoured to be a volunteer apartment manager and to be a part of SAS on the "giving back" side of things. When I look back at being a participant and them a live-in, I realize how far I have come and how much my life has changed for the better...
- LL
