Meta House in Milwaukee, WI, has been around since 1963 and helps women recover from substance use disorders, and you'll find that over the years they've moved and grown, now running a residential program for up to 35 women and 15 children, making it the first facility in Wisconsin to offer this kind of help with both women and their kids together right on site. They make sure everyone gets a treatment plan that fits their needs, with both long-term and short-term residential care, plus outpatient programs, so women can work on recovery while keeping up with jobs or family. The place has comfortable living spaces, an on-site kitchen serving balanced meals with diet options for things like diabetes or allergies, and plenty of spaces for individual therapy, group sessions, and even things like yoga or mindfulness groups, which is good if someone's looking for more than just medical care.
Kids can stay with their moms in the program if they're 10 or younger, and there's on-site childcare and parenting classes, so families have help building strong routines again, plus child and family clinicians who pitch in with both the moms and the kids. Special supports include options for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, sign language use, and adapted ways to communicate, so more women can get help, and they also deal with mental health concerns if someone's working through more than one issue at a time. They offer help for washing up, taking medicine, transferring, getting dressed or bathed, have Master's-level clinicians, and some groups are led by peer specialists who've walked the same road, and around-the-clock supervision keeps everybody safe, including medical oversight for withdrawal.
Meta House emphasizes person-centered care, so women have choices in daily schedules, and they do their best to arrange transportation for appointments or errands. Facilities feature furnished rooms with phones, emergency alert systems, meal services all day with allergy and diabetes options, movie nights, community gardens, walking paths, a rec room, living skills classes, and outside support meetings, along with activities to help everyone unwind after therapy. Smokers should know the campus is nicotine-free, so there's no vaping or tobacco during residential care, and staff help with moving in and housekeeping, while laundry is handled for you.
Job and education support is part of the program, including a longtime partnership with Step Industries to help women get back into the workforce or finish schooling. They address many types of addictive behavior-gambling, food, internet, and others-and offer help with information on how addiction works, recognizing signs, and supporting loved ones with substances. The campus has security measures, therapy for co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, and case management as part of care. Accreditation comes from SAMHSA and the State of Wisconsin, giving some peace of mind about standards.
Meta House has focused on helping women heal and end the cycle of addiction for themselves and their families, with resources and levels of care like relapse prevention and 12-step therapy, plus options for pregnant or postpartum women. They provide HIV/AIDS care alongside addiction treatment, making health management more complete. Community resources and outside meeting opportunities keep that connection going beyond residential care. With a community score of 3.8 according to Seniorly and a steady presence in Milwaukee for decades, Meta House offers a structured, holistic program aiming to empower women, strengthen families, and break the generational cycle of substance dependency, keeping things as simple, direct, and supportive as possible.
