About Smart Step

Two things, and they hold each other up. We run recovery residences: shared homes where people in recovery live with structure, standards, and support. And we work on the housing itself — keeping decent, affordable homes from being lost, so there is somewhere for that structure to happen.

People arrive from a recovery program, from jail, from a hospital, from a couch, or from a house that was never safe. What they need first is an address, a bed, a door that locks, and a set of expectations that is the same on Tuesday as it was on Friday.

• Housing comes first. Nothing else holds without somewhere to sleep.
• Structure is a kindness, not a punishment. Clear standards, applied the same way to everyone.
• Residents are neighbours rebuilding stability. They are not cases, and they are not a problem to be managed.
• Dignity is not a reward for good behaviour. It is the starting condition.
• Privacy is not optional. What a resident tells us is not shared with a court or an agency without a signed, dated release.
• We welcome residents who take physician-prescribed medication as part of their recovery.

Intake is the first conversation most people have with us. If you have applied or referred someone, that is who you are likely to hear from.

Smart Step provides housing, structure, and peer support. We are not a medical provider. We do not provide medical care, counselling, detox, or prescriptions, and we do not supervise anyone's medical care. Residents keep their own doctors and their own recovery supports; we keep the house.

We also do not hold anyone. Residents are adults who choose to be here and can leave at any time.

Smart Step Inc. is a nonprofit corporation recognised under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our EIN is 33-1822772. Our website is smartstepcorp.org.

Homes are provided to the program through a separate property operator, so residents have no relationship with the property's owner. Residents hold an occupancy agreement with Smart Step and pay a weekly program fee.

Mailing address: {{MAILING ADDRESS}}. Governing documents and financial statements are available on request — ask us.