I lived in a Fresh Start Sober Living about three years ago. The homes are beautiful and the convenience and accessibility to downtown Chicago is amazing. It was very easy for me to find employment and I loved having a beautiful home to go back to every work.The structure is great but not overwhelming to the point where you feel like you have no freedom. Considering the location, I believe the pricing is MORE than fair and very reasonable especially since you can use public transportation with ease and save money on a car, gas, auto insurance etc.When I was there, the girls basically all did their own thing and there was not much drama. At the end of the day, if you truly want to get sober and are willing to do the work and work an honest program, Fresh Start will be there to support you all the way but it would be ridiculous to assume they do more work towards your recovery than you do.10/10 would recommend A Fresh Start and honestly sometimes I wish I could go back just because it was beautiful housing and I loved being so close to the city.

These places can be risky. Everybody that move into one if these recovery homes is not seeking recovery. The issue of relapse is a pertinent one of discussion with management, as well as discussion on the safeguard in protecting residents who come motivated towards a life of total abstinence from all mood or mind altering substances. On the surface concepts of having homes geared toward rehabilitation presents a model approach, but the reality is is that an open and transparent account gives credence to not only creating a stable life for addicts but puts a community at ease as well.

I spent a few minutes reading other peoples reviews and see great range in different peoples experiences. This truly reflects that Fresh Start isnt a good match for everyone *and* its life saving for others. I fall into the latter group though their are other times in my life when it would not have been a good fit.I found accountability, support, and solid friendships in Fresh Start. I livedat Palmer as a resident for about a year. I then accepted a promotion to house manager and managed for about 2.5 years.There are seemingly a lot of rules to follow and they were a bit overwhelming when I first moved in. In time, the rules and expectations became simple and extremely understandable in houses full of people in early recovery.I believe I arrived at sober living on accident. Id had no intention of doing another rehab and certainly didnt expect to live in and become immersed in healing and recovery. Here I am 4 years later - grounded and with a bit of self love and self respect.A Fresh Start is not rehab and is not a structured program. It gave me and could give you a safe home base to do whatever work you need to do.

(A FRESH START LIVING) Is by far the best place I’ve lived while battling my addiction.the love that I’ve gotten from the first day was beautiful and amazing they welcomed me and made me feel like home right out the gate a lot of solid dudes that are doing the thang this place is super clean and I have not one complaint I love it here and I’m here to stay for some time definitely.absolutely fantastic place 2 thumbs up that’s about it solid place to stay clean and sober 🤙🏽🙏🏽

A Fresh Start Sober Living helped save my life. After years of abuse I was able to find a family here and put together an incredible life sober I didn’t think was possible. From the house managers to the office, everyone here will help you in any way they can. I owe a huge part of my freedom to this program and will forever be grateful.

A Fresh Start was an integral component in saving my life in August of 2016. I was provided with a safe place to live and work to get myself back on my feet. I needed accountability and structure which A Fresh Start also provided me. I lived at Grace house and cultivated relationships with men there that will last a lifetime. I was able to build my program of recovery and while at A Fresh Start the obsession to drink was removed, gratefully. I learned and relearned many skills that I still incorporate into my daily life almost three years later. Thanks to Dustin taking a chance on me I eventually became a house manager which led to me meeting one of my best friends and my current roommate. I’m also in school pursuing a social work degree. I’m eternally grateful for my experience at A Fresh Start and their team. I’ve been sober since 8/7/2016 - one day at a time 🙏🏻

Fresh Start is THE Best sober living in Chicago. They are professional and organized and always striving to be better. My recovery took off here and I am beyond thankful for Fresh Start. My life today is Amazing. Thank you Fresh Start and all the wonderful supportive staff you saved my life.

Fresh Start has been a key player in my Life. From helping stay sober. Having positive relationships with family and at work. But above all helping me develop tools to stay sober, so that I can continue to be a great asset to the sober community. Thanks Fresh Start for a fresh start in life!!!!

Great experience comming in the door .Courteous brothers that understand .Feels like your at home very clean and respectable . Im glad God bless me my brothers that I can count on for my sobriety

I spent almost a year at Fresh start in 2018. Like anything in recovery I got out what I put into it . The house Managers at the old Lincoln house are professional, consistent , and fair. I built a solid foundation for my recovery and learned some big life lessons while there . I am forever grateful for my experience with Fresh Start . Highly recommend..

Oh and hey owner of fresh start your reply to the comment about the drug tests is pretty funny. You said something like this is the problem with reviews, people will make stuff up or a fake profile up, blah blah blah. Well owner I think YOU made up fake profiles and people to give your place stars. How pathetic and sneaky. Drug Addict behavior at its best. I mean we all know addicts are some of the smartest manipulated/ con artists around. So good job owner or rather, LENNY for telling on yourself to the world and basically saying people, which is really YOU, make up profiles and fake reviews. You know I dont know of any person, let alone drug addict who would make up a review just to be spiteful. No, I think that its these people really got screwed and burned by Fresh Start and are just giving people an honest review, unlike YOU who is the FAKE who is making up reviews because we all know it wouldnt be a real person saying this place is good, unless they are on your payroll.And oh right, the comment about the drug tests. I know from first hand experience that they do royally screw you on the tests. I mean can you tell me why is it that other sober livings are ok with testing normal tests that all test for the same thing, but while Fresh Starts drug tests are outrageously expense and you have to test every 3 days and then receiving a bill from your insurance for $30,000.00, which is what a close friend of my received 6 months into living at Fresh Start. A bill for 30,000 as if we arent struggling to make ends meet as it is. Yeah. True Story. OH! and the best part is the tests are so sensitive that depending on what kind of medication your on (approved medication) can give you a false positive and they will kick you out knowing you never relapsed. Seems to me they are running this place like a boot camp/Nazi camp. Unacceptable behavior. Its a no wonder they got involved in this aspect of the business because who better to manipulate and lie to and get money out the drug addict whos families and oneself will pay anything to get sober. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I wouldn’t recommend this program. The environment I experienced was incredibly negative and dramatic. The rules in and of themselves aren’t bad, but the way they are enforced is. This program offers no real support to integrate back into your real life, such as providing help with finding a job. If you were to get kicked out of the house (minor infractions will lead to this after 3 of them) they DO NOT help to find a safe place to go, leaving the client to be on the streets if they do not have family or friends to aid them.Theft was a huge problem I experienced, and house managers did nothing to sort it out.I did not feel safe or cared for here, and wouldn’t return even if it was the only option.

This is a nice place to live, but they claim to want to help you out getting a job and getting back on your feet. I pay $250 a week and they will not even give me the courtesy of printing out my resume at their office. Told me to go find a kinkos. Unbelievable.

I literally got kicked out for not cleaning the pizza dish when I wasn’t even the one who made the pizza but since I was the last one to eat a piece (we all shared the pizza) it was my duty to wash it which is bull. There was also another girl whose bed was next to mine and stole a couple of my things and constantly harassed me and nothing was done about it. I would cry and hide in the bathroom because I felt very unsafe and alone. Honestly, my family and I were relieved when they asked me to go. The houses are nice and I think they mean well but they did not help me find a job in any way and they didn’t even let my mom come inside when it was raining. They mean well but the house managers have major power trips and some of the rules just don’t make sense. A lot of false advertisement. The only reason I stayed sober through it all was because of the things I learned from rehab.

Firstar has change my life for the better and my Experience there has been really good and Friends become family and has made a Big difference in My recovery Its all about the little things !!

This place saved my life. It gave me the structure and accountability I needed in early recovery. Frequent urine tests (2x week) helped me stay sober after years of trying and failing. Very professional management and owner.

Worst experience. Everyone was held to a different standard when it suited management. When you call them out on it, they all of a sudden hit you with a bunch of constructive criticism. This is a sober house, it doesnt actually offer a structured program. Ive been sober for a year and my motivation was not to be in this place. You have to be willing to be strong and do it for yourself, not someone else. A fresh start just wasnt for me, but there are better programs out there for less money and qualified people giving you advice. Thats just my two cents on this place. Some managers are there just collect free rent and could care less about you and recovery haha. All I can say is that Im sober, happy and did myself. Thanks alot Dustin

An amazing place - saved my life.

My experience started off fine at fresh start. Unfortunately circumstances went downhill quickly. The managers at the Belmont home I was staying in were never available. Did and do not care about their jobs and have openly stated they stay there for their free rent. I understand getting back on your feet after coming out of recovery is not easy, things all addicts trying to stay sober deal with on a day to day basis. The managers say they do things and don’t. I openly overheard managers gossiping about a new girls shaved head, joking that she probably “went all Brittany Spears” while going through her addiction. The gossip and breaking of anonymity, discussing other residents medications with other women in the house, none of it stopped there and was quite frankly disturbing. I left this house and had a suitcase and two small garbage bags, with my names clearly written on them behind. I texted the managers several times within days after I left as to when I could come back and pick my items up. All texts were replied with, not a good time or not a good day. My last text was asking if I could come by the next weeekend and I received no response. When I finally went back to get my things asking an assistant manager she told me my things were thrown out. My suitcase was still there but all my clothing (thousands of dollars of clothing) were gone and replaced with clothes I’d never seen or purchased before. Ladies I hope you enjoy the beautiful clothing I spent years of work to pay for. Any women or man who is seeking a sober living facility in Chicago, be warned. I think it goes without saying. Find somewhere else.

I stayed with A Fresh Start Sober Living for over a year and had an amzing experience with A Fresh Start Sober Living! The staff and management were attentitve and understanding of issues as they arose, and the office was always willing to work with me.There are a set of rules in place to keep residents accountable and allow the residents to participate in their own recovery. These rules also leave room to slowly reasimilate into what some may call normal life some other programs in the chicago area do not leave this room for their clients, so upon leaving those programs people dont know what to do next. Fresh Start encourages active gainful employment, participation in an active program of recovery, building social skills, and the ability to coexist with others. All valuable skills when it comes to being succesfull upon leaving a sober living environment.They even throw a very nice holiday party each year for their residents as a way to give back.Any negative reviews are simply from a few people who could not follow a simple set of guidelines that the program sets out in black and white and is signed by every client upon intake.I hope they continue to grow and if yourself, your family, or friends are in need of a reputable, safe, and comfortable enviornment in which to recover i certainly hope you would consider A Fresh Start Sober Living in Chicago

Wish I could give them no stars. Stay away from this place its run down trap houses with over priced rent rich parents send there kids to to be babysat. Terrible on all accounts, they care nothing about the clients just the money. The owner gives Jews a bad name cause he is the appittamy of greed.

(review written by: Christopher Cottini) I was a client at A Fresh Start sober living starting in 2009 at the old Humboldt Park location. Basically Fresh Start provides you with a sober living situation that holds you accountable during your early recovery. Your going to get out of it what you put into it, if you go there on bull$@!#... Thats exactly what your going to get a $@!# life, i spent many years wasting my familys and my money bouncing around in these halfway houses around Chicago. A FRESH START SOBER LIVING is a very good place for you or a friend or family member to get a foothold on your sobriety. I dont care what these other people say about the misuse of insurance funding, wake up people i dont care where you go... What facility, where and all that Insurance in itself is one of the biggest rackets of the 21st century i dont care where you go... Medical detox and treatment and mental health care are going to rape your insurance company every chance they get... I would recommend A Fresh Start to anyone..

Gives people in early recovery a safe place to grow and learn.

Scammed my insurance company they have fake drug lab and sub contract specimens and charge the maximum billable amount what there doing is illegal shut this place down. This whole facility is money laundering operation for the Russian mob. The original owner Lucian bought the houses with heroin money so they have the $$$ to cross every I and t .

Dont care about the clients is how I felt.

FUBAR