Capital Campaign

4th Dimension Sobriety

Meeting A Need

In 2023, 4th Dimension Sobriety opened doors to a new sober living house, in Milwaukee, WI at the corner of Center and Holton streets. The 8,000-square-foot building hosts 36 new beds that expanded sober living housing in Milwaukee by 40%.

4th Dimension hopes to buy that building and is trying to raise $2 million - $1.2M for the building and another $800,000 for required upgrades and renovations (such as the heating system); furniture, fixtures and equipment; as well as other year 1 costs.

With the purchase of the Center Street building in the Riverwest neighborhood, 4th Dimension can sustain serving far more people and provide services to transform lives in the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods and beyond.

4th DimensionSobriety in that building offers a unique opportunity:

● Unicorn of a building: Affordable, available building located in the right neighborhood and already renovated to serve as housing. The building at Center and Holton Streets was a bank, a Head Start facility and then sat empty for about 20 years before being bought by a cooperative of investors and leased to a hostel. The timeline for raising money to buy the building is quite short as the financing changed at the end of 2022. Those increased financing costs have been passed on to 4th Dimension.

● The kind of infrastructure and expanded continuum of services that the addiction and alcoholism world needs.

● Credible, innovative, efficient nonprofit able to take advantage of the building and to meet the need.

Facing the Facts of Addiction

Many Milwaukeeans are suffering with addiction. As it has become a reality for folks in Milwaukee, WI, and all around our country, addiction has faded from the news. Overdoses shockingly increased by 48% in 2020. Since 2005, the number of heroin-related deaths in Milwaukee has increased by 495%. Nearly 3,000 people in Milwaukee experienced non-fatal opioid overdoses in 2017, while 300 people lost their lives as a result of opioid-related causes.

Wisconsin is considered the "heaviest drinking state in the entire country" due to its lengthy history of high rates of alcohol misuse. One-fourth of Wisconsin's adults binge drink and the state's major cities have high rates of alcohol consumption. Particularly Milwaukee has a bad reputation for binge drinking.

related causes.

The Plan: Quadruple the Number of People Served

Treatment options have not gotten better as the effects of addictions intensify. It is crucial to take advantage of this chance to triple the number of tried-and-true rehabilitation choices in the center of Milwaukee and a community plagued by addiction. With support from charity foundations in Milwaukee, WI, and members of our community, 4th Dimension Sobriety will be able to double from six to 30 men in six-month treatment programs by purchasing the building.

Sober living as a step down from in-patient treatment is not an option for many people. Their financial backing has been the main obstacle. They may be unable to work to pay for sober living if they were on Medicaid. The highest capacity of this new building and the altered revenue structure will enable the service of low-income individuals.

Treatment programs that are more comprehensive can be offered in the same location thanks to the meeting rooms and common areas. Off-site offerings of 12-step programs and yoga have previously been made. In this new setting, 12-step and recovery programs can flourish, giving 4th Dimension Sobriety and the people it assists more opportunities to be involved in the recovery movement.

Significantly, the building's prominence encourages the recovery community to come forward, recognize treatment requirements, and lessen the stigma associated with it. Emerging from the shadows of previously unmarked dwellings, 4th Dimension Sobriety can set an example for the rehabilitation community. The structure has already been used for bonfires and picnics. An essential and useful alternative in the continuum of care are sober residences.

sober residences.

Supportive Charity Foundations in Milwaukee, WI

Bader Philanthropies, Inc
Harry and Lynn Bradley Foundation
Zilber Family Foundation
Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Rogers Behaviorial Health
Milwaukee Brewers Community Foundation Inc
Green Bay Packer Foundation
Milwaukee County Government Agencies
Milwaukee County Bridge
Jennifer Friedman Hillis Family Foundation
Camille A. Lonstorf Trust

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Research on Sober Living Houses Has Documented Positive Outcomes

Significant improvements on measures of substance use, alcohol and drug problems, employment, psychiatric symptoms and arrests in an evaluation of 245 individuals over an 18-month time period. Those improvements were maintained at 18 months. (Polcin, Korcha, Bond and Galloway 2010)

Similar 18-month outcomes were found for 55 persons living in sober living houses affiliated with a treatment program. That sample included a significant number – 35% - of people who were recently homeless. (Polcin, Korcha, Bond & Galloway, 2010)

Neighbors and community stakeholder views support sober living houses, They are generally viewed as an asset and residents were generally viewed as good neighbors. Neighbors expressed appreciation that the houses mandated abstinence from substances and stressed the importance of the houses to practice a “good neighbor” policy toward others. (Polcin, Henderson, Trocki, Evans, & Wittman 2012)

According to a January 2021 research report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a variety of housing options that encourage recovery and are both available and affordable are crucial, since each person's journey toward recovery is different. It can be difficult to incorporate recovery housing into the range of affordable housing alternatives, even among advocates who acknowledge that clients should have a choice between transitional housing and home that demands a clean and sober living environment. In the end, persons in recovery require and value safe and healthy living conditions.

About the Building

Located in the Riverwest section of Milwaukee, WI, at 500 E. Center St., on the corner of Center and Holton streets. Nine bedrooms, each with four to six bunk beds, can accommodate eight to twelve people.

Other spaces in the building with 8000 square feet include:

Large lower level program area for yoga and meditation
An industrial kitchen for shared meals
A ground floor lobby and a table-equipped meeting room used for 12-step meetings and other events
Second-floor lounge and TV room with couches