{"id":23170,"date":"2025-03-12T22:57:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T04:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-countys-first-sober-living-facility-opens-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:28:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:28:35","slug":"montezuma-countys-first-sober-living-facility-opens-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-countys-first-sober-living-facility-opens-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County\u2019s first sober living facility opens in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Charlee
Charlee Sharp and Adam Herman bought a home in Cortez and recently opened Montezuma County\u2019s first sober living facility. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The first sober living facility in Montezuma County officially opened its doors at the end of February.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called Silver Lining Recovery Homes<\/a>, and it\u2019s a safe space where recovering addicts can live, so long as they\u2019re at least 30 days sober.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an abstinence-based environment, so residents must also be motivated to stay clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting. This isn\u2019t something we\u2019ve ever had in this town,\u201d said Charlee Sharp, a certified addiction specialist and cofounder of the facility.<\/p>\n

The recovery home opening, then, \u201cmarks a major milestone in Cortez\u2019s efforts to address substance recovery needs,\u201d according to a press release.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s more than \u201cjust a place to stay,\u201d said Sharp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to create a supportive environment that empowers individuals to rebuild their lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Without a stable home, someone in recovery will \u201cfall back into the same patterns\u201d of substance use, said Adam Herman, a cofounder of the home.<\/p>\n

In addition to stability, sober living provides a sense of community and fosters accountability when we lack it in ourselves, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opposite of addiction, they say, is connection,\u201d Herman said. \u201cSafety and support is the foundation of success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 100-year-old home near downtown Cortez can fit up to eight men \u2013 the recovery home is for men only \u2013 and there\u2019s no limit to how long they can stay. So far, one person has moved in.<\/p>\n

Sharp said they\u2019re hoping to open a home for women in recovery within the year.<\/p>\n

Herman and Sharp bought the home together and are covering costs until all eight beds are filled. At that point, \u201cit\u2019ll pay for itself,\u201d said Sharp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t ran into anyone that\u2019s not supportive,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were warned of \u2018Not In My Backyard\u2019 people, but we haven\u2019t had any of that. The neighborhood and city has been so supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Herman and Sharp have struggled with addiction in the past, and spoke on the importance of having this recovery option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I would\u2019ve had something like this in my own recovery, I probably wouldn\u2019t have relapsed,\u201d Sharp said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been dreaming of this for years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herman spoke about the process of rebuilding one\u2019s self after addiction, and how hard it can be since, usually, the bridges of support have all been burned.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroup support within any setting is so important,\u201d he said. And once this home is filled, its residents will be there to support one another, and go to meetings together.<\/p>\n

\"Quite
Quite possibly the coziest couch known to man. This is the shared living space at Silver Lining Recovery Homes in Cortez. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The kitchen space at the Silver Living Recovery Homes in Cortez. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The shared dining room at Cortez\u2019s first ever sober living facility. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Herman and Sharp both referred to the home as a \u201ctransition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a necessary transition to get from where you\u2019re at, to where you\u2019re headed,\u201d said Herman.<\/p>\n

This recovery home, he said, can be that transition place where \u201cthere\u2019s still structure, but enough freedom to live your own life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp said that she\u2019ll help residents develop a self-directed recovery plan, which is tailored to each individual since \u201ceveryone\u2019s recovery looks different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea is for residents to choose at least three weekly meetings to attend, and there\u2019s a lot of local options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to be strong enough to move into the community on their own,\u201d Sharp said. \u201cThis is a place to get a job and get on their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rent is $900 a month, which includes utilities and all house supplies. The Pi\u00f1on Project has programs to help pay the first month of rent; after that, it\u2019s up to residents to pay.<\/p>\n

The rooms are set up in a dormitory style, with two twin beds per room. Sharp put together care packages for each resident, made up of things like bath towels, a laundry basket, laundry soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush.<\/p>\n

\"The
The dormitory-type setup of the rooms at the new sober living facility in Cortez. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The care packages that Charlee Sharp put together for each resident. It has bath towels, laundry supplies and other cosmetics. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The kitchen area, bathrooms and living room are shared spaces. A $30,000 grant from the LOR Foundation supported the overall project, and paid for furnishings.<\/p>\n

That money also paid for some plumbing projects, said Nicci Crowley, Cortez\u2019s community officer for the LOR Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlee saw the challenges of someone in recovery and had the drive to make the situation different for someone else,\u201d Crowley said. \u201cWe all have challenges, but not everyone says, \u2018How can I make it better for the next person?\u2019 To me, that\u2019s so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Help from friends, family, the community, the Pi\u00f1on Project and the Colorado Agency for Recovery Residences also made the project possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone deserves a second chance in this life. They just have to be willing, and need the support to do it,\u201d said Herman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will help success rates exponentially,\u201d Sharp added.<\/p>\n

Silver Lining is accepting monetary and food donations, as well as house supplies like toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies. If you\u2019re interested in donating, email silverliningrecoveryhomes@gmail.com<\/a> or call (970) 676-4255.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents must be at least 30 days clean and have \u2018motivation to continue the recovery journey\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78004,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23170\/revisions\/78004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23170"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}