Living Stone Sober Living (LSSL) is a sober living home that helps people with drug and alcohol addiction. I have been a resident of LSSL since August 2023.
As an alcoholic, LSSL has helped me stay sober and has been keeping me on the path of recovery. Steven Ryan has owned and managed Living Stone for two years. LSSL offers no-rent housing, free food, free hygiene products, and free internet
Ryan also provides moral support to those living at the home.
“I felt that as a substance use counselor I felt like I would tell people how to get a job or how to transition back into society, but I wanted to open up a home so I could actually role model it and actually like to show people where to go,” said Ryan. “I can take people down to Delta College and help them sign up for college. I can help them do resumes. I’ve even gone with people to job interviews. I’ve even went with people on their first day of college just to give that moral support because I know that to other people it might be easy to go fill out an application or go to school but if you’ve been out of mainstream society for awhile sometimes it can be challenging and just having a buddy for moral support can make a big difference.”
Ryan said the key to running a sober living home is that you have to have it “in your heart” because “not every person you meet is excited” to be in a sober living home. The main qualification to live in a sober living house is a desire for sobriety.
“I think the first is that do they want to be sober? You know and if they don’t want to be sober — I’m not against people that use drugs and alcohol — but unfortunately people that are using drugs that are active in their addiction, it’s a danger to the people that are trying to refrain from drugs. So first of all do you want to stop using drugs and alcohol? And two: are you willing to try something different? They say one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results,” Ryan said.
Gigi Feise is a former resident of LSSL, who lived there for six months.
“It was very clean, and everybody seemed for the most part to get along,” said Feise.
Feise said she lived at another location that wasn’t as nice.
“I lived at one sober living home that was infested full of mice, cockroaches, and bed bugs. And most of the others were OK, but there were a few cockroaches at a spot I was staying at too,” she said.
Ryan said it’s important for the home to feel like a real home for those living there. He said he aims to create a caring environment where connections are made, while also providing a comfortable space.
“We provide the food. We want to take the element out of if we want people not to be in survival mode. We want people to breathe so they can chase their dreams and aspirations, because if a person is not happy with their life, eventually if they’re under stress, it’s been my experience that they will return to active addiction,” said Ryan.
Most LSSL residents are required to attend groups and have weekly sessions with addiction counselors at Service First of Northern California.
Steve Foppiano is a drug counselor at Service First.
“Service First is a program that deals with people mostly just coming out of prison or coming out of the courts that have addiction issues and we give them the tools if they want to change their life around and we give them the tools they need to live a better life without their drug or alcohol addiction,” said Foppiano.
Fappiano said Service First has been around since 1995. The company and its employees support sober living homes as those living in the homes work through programs related to their areas of addiction. Housing is paid through Westcare if they work through the program
Ryan has been an amazing mentor on my road to recovery.
He told me about the Phoenix Project at Delta College and helped me get enrolled in classes. I have yet to stay at another sober living home. Most residents unless self paid only get three months to one year at a sober living home. My plans after staying at LSSL is if I qualify to get funding from an organization that will initially help me get my own place to live.