A Sober Living Home Opens in Jasper

Every once in awhile you hear something truly inspiring… This sober living home story is that once in awhile.

Why? Because it’s the dream of a sober warrior named Joe Crutchfield. And after doing the next right thing each and every day for well over a year, that dream is becoming a reality. Better still, Joe’s sober living home will also be the first ever in Dubois County, Indiana.

If that’s not double-plus good, well, there’s no such thing!

Let’s take a look at how Joe’s dream became a reality.

Next Step Recovery Home

Yep. Joe’s new sober house is called Next Step Recovery Home. It’s in a town called Jasper, Indiana. Dubois County’s town seat.

We found out about Joe’s sober home because The Dubois County Herald’s Christine Stephenson gave the place some well-deserved coverage. Glad that she did too. Gives us a chance to chime in with some praise of our own.

And Joe is certainly deserving of some praise. He’s 50 now. And sober. Blessedly sober. In fact, Joe’s been sober for many years. He also has his own auto detailing business. That’s called C2 Crutchfield’s Auto Detailing. Joe details boats too. Lot of ’em. But cars are his main business.

Well, they were his main business. Soon Joe will also have a sober living home to handle. Were confident though he'll have no trouble, Not with the mindset he's got. See Joe's got that next right thing down to a science. He knows that by doing the next right thing, he'll bring about the next right result. So he does just that.

Do just that long enough and those results start piling up nicely. Before you know it, you've got yourself a home. You got yourself a family. And you've got yourself a business. Heck, you may even have your own sober home.

Seeing the Need

Joe chose to open Next Step for one very simple reason. The town needed it. Badly.

“It’s like a cycle,” he told the Herald. “People come out of jail, they get arrested again and go back into the jail… We’ve got people coming out of jail who want to stay sober. We have people coming out of rehab who want to stay sober. But neither have a place to go.”

Soon they will. And it’s not just because of Joe either. See Next Step is part of an overall community health effort to bring mental health and substance abuse resources to Dubois County, writes Stephenson. Joe says they’ve been talking about the need for years.

“Everybody knows what’s going on behind closed doors,” he said. “[Addiction] is everywhere… And it doesn’t matter who you are in the community. It’s everyone’s problem.”

Thanks to the good folks at the Lilly Endowment, it’ll soon be everyone’s solution. See the Endowment’s stepping up and giving Next Step a $250,000 grant, which it will administer in collaboration with the Dubois County Community Foundation mental health initiative.

All they need now is a suitable facility. Joe says he wants to find somewhere that can house about 10 men and is close to downtown. This way those without transportation can walk to their jobs. Makes perfect sense. Especially since the idea is for men to work jobs during the day and work the 12 Steps during the evening. Yep, you guessed it. Joe swears by Alcoholics Anonymous’s long-running and well-proven program.

“Everything I’m doing is from my experience,” he said. “The 12 Step program did me wonders.”

The main thing, says Joe, is Next Step will only be for men who truly want to become sober. That’s what worked for him. And he’s sure that’s what will work for them.

Welcome to the Family!

Healing Properties congratulates Joe on his successes, as well as his sobriety, and we wholeheartedly welcome Next Step to the sober living home community. We know how beneficial a sober home can be for a town. And we’re truly heartened to hear Jasper will soon be able to experience those benefits. We’re especially heartened to hear Joe’s going to be working with the Association of Latin Americans in Southern Indiana so that the entire community will be involved. We’d also like to thank The Dubois County Herald’s Christine Stephenson for bringing Joe’s inspiring story to our attention. The world could sure use more reporters like her — and more papers like The Herald!

The world could always stand a few more sober folks too. How about you? Addiction becoming a burden? Are you on the fence about all this sobriety business? Care for a little kindly nudge in the right direction? Think about Joe. How he’s turned his life around. Then think about yourself. And how good you’d feel walking around with the high esteem of your community. It’s doable you know. You’ve just gotta make up your mind to do it. If you give us a ring, we’ll gladly point you in the right direction. If you’re in Jasper, so will Joe.

“I always answer the phone,” says Joe. “That’s what you do when you’re in recovery. Someone calls, you pick up the phone. Sometimes that’s how we fight the urge to drink at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons — with great gratitude.)