What to bring, and what actually happens, on your first day

The first day is paperwork, a tour, and a strange first night. It is not an interview and it is not a test — the decision has already been made. This is the whole day in order, so that nothing about it is a surprise.

Two things matter more than anything you pack: arrive when you said you would, and bring your medication with you. Almost everything else can be sorted out during the first week.

If you are coming straight from a hospital, from jail, or from another program, tell us before the day so the timing works. Arrival is arranged in advance rather than by turning up — {{ARRIVAL WINDOW}}. If your plans fall apart on the way, call. A late arrival that somebody knows about is an ordinary thing; disappearing is not.

• Photo ID, and your Social Security card if you have it. If you have neither, say so — that is common, and replacing them is one of the first practical things we help with.
• All of your prescribed medication, in the containers it was dispensed in, with the labels intact.
• Your prescriber's name and phone number, and the date of your next appointment.
• About a week of clothes, including one thing you could wear to a job interview or to court.
• Toiletries and a towel. Your own bedding and pillow if you have them.
• Your phone and charger. An inexpensive alarm clock if you do not have a phone.
• Any court paperwork, probation or parole contact details, and any referral letter you were given.
• Whatever you need for work — boots, tools, uniform, licence, certification card.

Bring less than you think. Storage is shared and finite — {{STORAGE SPACE PER RESIDENT}} — and a bag you can carry is easier than a car full of boxes you have nowhere to put. Some items are not permitted in the house at all, so check the list before you pack rather than at the door: {{ITEMS NOT PERMITTED}}.

Intake takes a while and it is mostly reading and signing. Slow down for it. What you sign on the first day is what governs the rest of your stay, and every one of these documents is yours to read before you put your name on it.

• Your occupancy agreement — where you live, what the weekly program fee is, when it is due, and how your stay can end. Read this one twice; it is the document that governs everything else.
• The house standards — the written rules of the house, including curfew, chores, guests, quiet hours and screening.
• Consent and release forms — who, if anyone, we may speak to about you. You decide. You can narrow it or cancel it later.
• Emergency contact and medical information — including any allergy, condition or medication that someone would need to know about if you could not tell them yourself.

Ask questions while you are signing, not afterwards. Intake coordination at Smart Step is handled by Bebe Gonzalez, and “I do not understand this part, read it to me again” is a completely normal sentence on intake day. Ask for your own copy of everything you sign and keep it somewhere you can find it.

Medication prescribed to you as part of your recovery is welcome here, and stopping it is never a condition of living here. On the first day your medication is logged and stored — {{MEDICATION STORAGE ARRANGEMENT}} — which protects your supply in a shared house and protects you from being blamed if something of someone else's goes missing. If any of that is unclear, ask on the day. There is more detail in what “MAT-friendly” actually means.

Someone walks you through the house: your bed and your storage, the bathroom you will use, the kitchen and what in it is shared, the laundry, the chore board, where the fire exits are and where the smoke alarms are. Ask where things are kept rather than guessing on your second day.

You will also be told the two numbers that matter: curfew — {{CURFEW TIME}} — and who to call at night if something goes wrong — {{AFTER-HOURS CONTACT}}. Put the second one in your phone before you unpack.

It is often hard, and there is no version of this where it is not a little strange. A house you do not know, people you have not met, sounds that are not your sounds. Plenty of people do not sleep much on the first night. That is not a sign that this was a mistake.

You do not owe anybody your whole story on day one. “I just got here” is a complete answer. Most people in the house have had a first night of their own and remember it, which is why someone will usually show you where the coffee is without being asked.

• You will be added to the chore rotation and the house meeting.
• You will be expected at meetings and at any appointments you already had — bring the dates with you so nothing is missed.
• Screening is part of living here and starts as a matter of routine, not suspicion.
• If you are not working, the first week is for the practical scaffolding: identification documents, benefits, a phone, a resume, a plan.
• Your first weekly program fee is due on the schedule in your occupancy agreement. If money is going to be a problem, say so before the date rather than after it.

Say something the same day. A bed that is wrong, a document you were not given, a housemate who worries you, medication that was not stored the way you were told it would be — all of that is easier to fix on day one than in week six. Concerns go to the house manager, and if the concern is about the house manager there is a route around them: {{COMPLAINT CONTACT}}. Nobody is penalized for raising something.

If you have somewhere to be tonight and nowhere to be tomorrow, start here.