Who comes to A Friend's House

Our residents come from throughout the United States and Canada, and on average are between the ages of 18-28. However, we have worked with many women who are in their 30s. We do not accept minors into the program. We can have a maximum of seven women in the program at once.

Women who apply to AFH struggle with a variety of issues. Many women self-harm, have eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and severe depression. Some women were abused in past relationships, most of them within their families. We work with many women who abused substances in the past also. While there are differences among all of our residents, some critical similarities exist.

We only accept women into the program who are ready to address the underlying issues that led to their destructive life choices. Women need to be prepared to evaluate and transform their thinking. They need to be ready to examine themselves - even the painful parts. This requires a commitment to work hard every day, and a willingness to change.

We are not a medical facility, but rather a program that helps women transition to live life on their own. Therefore, we have some requirements that potential residents need to be aware of: If you have an eating disorder you need to be within a weight range that your physician calls healthy. Also, you need to be able to manage eating on your own. We do not have set meal plans for each woman, but we do have healthy menus that are approved by a dietician. If you have a substance abuse problem, we require that you are clean for at least six months before being accepted to our program.