Flynn House – New Jersey

A busy few days since arriving in Pennsylvania (Penn) station and heading uptown to my very lovely lodgings in Harlem where my host is a modern dance choreographer called Patrick.

First up was a trip across the Hudson by train to New Jersey to visit Flynn House which is a sober living house set up in an old precinct house (police station) just down the road from the New Jersey Court House. Flynn House has an ‘empty lot’ next door to it which has been turned into a car park which is used by, among others, court personnel, probation officers, judges etc.

The manager, a Puerto Rican American called Louis, told me that the proximity of some of his clientele to members of the judiciary was a bit of a risk, but assured me that changed attitudes in recovery extended as far as ignoring judges whom you pass on the street and know where they parked their car!

The building is large, brick and attractive, and has three floors. The top two floors have been turned into dormitories with bunk beds and room for about 30 men who normally have just been released from an institution, detox, or for some reason are homeless and in early recovery. They have a contract that requires them to do one AA/NA meeting a day, get a sponsor and work the 12 Step program as best they can, but things happen from time to time, and being breathalysed for alcohol and urine sampled for drugs help to keep people honest. Full board and lodging costs $160/week and the only people excluded in principal are those who test positive for TB.

The emphasis from Flynn House, after maintaining sobriety, is on motivating the residents to find work and come off welfare. I met one bright young man who is studying at a local college to get his all-important GED (General Education Diploma), the passport to meaningful employment he said.

The cook has a long criminal record but has now had four years drug free and is taking seriously his job of cooking for the residents and saw nothing at all spartan about the dorms. The military or prison feel of these dorms was not to my taste but they are more common in many areas of American life than they are in Britain, and seem to be accepted practice.