Bienvenido. If you’re reading this, maybe you’re a man from Little Havana who has just finished treatment. Maybe you’re a mother, a wife or a brother looking for help for someone you love. Either way, you’re in the right place. This is a guide to sober living in Little Havana and the neighborhoods around it, Coral Way and Flagami, written with respect for the families and the culture that make this part of Miami what it is.
In recovery there’s a phrase every man learns early: one day at a time. In Spanish, un día a la vez. It works in both languages, and it’s the spirit of everything below.
One thing to say clearly at the start. The Foundry does not have a house in Little Havana. Our two men’s houses are in North Miami Beach (Foundry: Lakehouse) and in Hollywood (Foundry: Beachhouse). Some men from Little Havana want to stay close to home; others need a little distance. We’ll talk honestly about both.
El barrio: Little Havana, Coral Way and Flagami
Little Havana sits just west of downtown Miami. Wikipedia describes its boundaries as roughly SW 37th Avenue on the west, SW 3rd Avenue on the east, NW 7th Street on the north and SW 22nd Street, which is Coral Way, on the south. The name was first applied to the Riverside and Shenandoah areas in the 1960s, as Cuban exiles made their homes here, and today the neighborhood is also home to families from across Central and South America. In 2017 the National Trust for Historic Preservation declared it a national treasure.
The heart of it is Calle Ocho, SW 8th Street, also called the Tamiami Trail. South of Little Havana, Coral Way runs along the banyan-lined boulevard of the same name; Wikipedia notes that about 1,200 banyan trees were planted along its median in 1929. West of Red Road, Flagami stretches toward the Tamiami Canal, a mostly residential area of homes and small businesses on either side of Flagler Street.
It’s a place built on la familia, on neighbors who know each other, on music and food and conversation on the sidewalk. Those are real strengths for a man in recovery. So is honesty about the rest: Calle Ocho has its share of bars and lounges, and the big street festivals draw large crowds where drinking is part of the scene.
Sober living in Little Havana: cultura sin alcohol
Recovery isn’t only about avoiding the wrong places. It’s about finding the right ones. In Little Havana there are plenty.
- Máximo Gómez Park, better known as Domino Park, on Calle Ocho. Men gather there to play dominoes and talk. Sitting in on a game, or just watching, is an easy way to spend an afternoon among people without a drink in sight.
- The Tower Theater at 1508 SW 8th Street, a historic theater that hosts films and cultural programs. A movie is one of the simplest sober nights out there is.
- Viernes Culturales, the “Cultural Fridays” tradition on Calle Ocho, and the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame between SW 12th and 17th Avenues. Go with sober friends, enjoy the art and music, and leave when the night turns into a party.
- Parks for walking and thinking: José Martí Park at 351 SW 4th Street, an 8.9-acre green space with a riverwalk along the Miami River, Riverside Park and Shenandoah Park in Little Havana, and Douglas Park and Coral Gate Park in the Coral Way area. Cuban Memorial Boulevard, along SW 13th Avenue, is a shaded walk with history in every block.
- Libraries: the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Hispanic Branch at 1398 SW 1st Street and Shenandoah Branch at 2111 SW 19th Street are quiet, free, and good for job searches.
And of course, el cafecito. A small coffee at a ventanita, the walk-up coffee window you see all over Miami, is a ritual that has nothing to do with alcohol. Take a sponsor or a friend from the meeting. Talk. That’s recovery too.
Little Havana ZIP codes
Little Havana, Coral Way and Flagami cross several ZIP codes, and all of them carry the postal name “Miami, FL.” We checked the ZIPs below against Wikipedia’s neighborhood articles and against USPS-based ZIP references (unitedstateszipcodes.org and zip-codes.com). ZIPs don’t follow neighborhood lines, so treat the descriptions as general.
| ZIP | Area it covers | Note for a man in recovery |
|---|---|---|
| 33135 | Central and western Little Havana along Calle Ocho and West Flagler; also part of the Coral Way area | Close to Domino Park and the Tower Theater. Busy streets with lots of walking, bus service and small businesses that hire. |
| 33130 | Eastern Little Havana, toward the Miami River and downtown | Short trips to downtown and Brickell jobs. Home to José Martí Park on the Miami River. |
| 33125 | Northern Little Havana and nearby areas north of Flagler, also part of Flagami | Residential blocks with bus connections. A practical base for work in the city’s core. |
| 33145 | The Coral Way neighborhood | Quieter, tree-lined streets along the banyan boulevard. Close to the Shenandoah library and Douglas Park. |
| 33144 | Flagami | Mostly residential. USPS also accepts West Miami and Coral Gables as mailing names here, a reminder that ZIP lines cross city lines. |
| 33126 | Part of Flagami and areas to its west | Wikipedia’s Flagami article lists it among Flagami’s ZIPs; zip-codes.com also lists Doral as an alias, a sign of how far west it reaches. Mostly residential with bus links. |
Families searching for sober living Little Havana FL by ZIP will find that addresses in the same ZIP can feel very different block to block. Visit, walk around, and trust what you see.
Cómo moverse: getting around
Most men come into sober living without a car. In Little Havana that’s manageable. Metrobus routes run along the major streets, and the City of Miami operates trolley routes named for Little Havana, Coral Way and Flagami; the city’s trolley maps page has the current routes. From the Coral Way area, the Vizcaya and Coconut Grove Metrorail stations connect to downtown and the rest of the county.
Trabajo: work and structure
Work is one of the strongest supports in early recovery. It fills the day, it builds self-respect, and it gives a man something to protect. Little Havana and the surrounding areas have restaurants, bakeries, retail, construction, auto shops, warehouses and service jobs, and being bilingual is a real asset across Miami. CareerSource South Florida offers free job search help, workshops and training in Miami-Dade.
At The Foundry, every resident is expected to be working, in school, volunteering or in an outpatient program (IOP counts) within the first couple of weeks. We help with resumes and interview practice.
Preguntas que debe hacer: what to ask any sober house
Whether you choose a house in Miami, Hollywood or anywhere else, ask these questions. A good house will answer them without hesitating.
- ¿Está certificada? Is it certified? Florida’s voluntary certification for recovery residences comes from section 397.487 of the Florida Statutes. The credentialing organization is the Florida Association of Recovery Residences (FARR). Ask to see the certificate.
- Are the rules written down and actually enforced? No alcohol or drugs, a curfew, chores, meetings. Our post on sober living rules explains what’s typical.
- Is drug testing randomized? If residents know when the test is coming, it isn’t much of a test.
- What happens after a relapse? You want an honest conversation about the right level of care, not a man left on the street with nowhere to go.
- Is admissions honest? A good house tells you if it’s not the right fit, and why.
If you’re new to all this, our explainer What is sober living? is a good place to start, and the first 30 days in sober living covers what the beginning looks like.
Reuniones: meetings
AA and NA meetings are held all over Miami-Dade, including Spanish-language meetings. Use the official finders and look for meetings en español if that’s the language your heart speaks in: AA’s meeting finder and NA’s meeting search. Our guide to AA and NA meetings in Miami explains how to find a home group and a sponsor.
Para la familia
In many Cuban and Latin families, everyone wants to help, and everyone has an opinion. That love is a gift. It can also be hard to step back and let a man in recovery take responsibility for himself. A good sober house gives the family a role without putting the family in charge.
A few practical things: ask the house how visits work (The Foundry has an initial blackout period for new residents before visits); ask how they communicate with families; and look after yourselves. Al-Anon is there for families and friends of alcoholics, with Spanish-language resources. Our families page has more.
The Foundry: close to home, or a little distance
Some men do best close to their family and their church. Others need some distance from the streets where they used. Both of our houses are within reach of Little Havana, and neither is in the middle of it.
Foundry: Lakehouse is at 871 NE 182nd Terrace in North Miami Beach, near Aventura and I-95. It’s a lakeside home with eight bedrooms and five bathrooms, canoes and kayaks, a hammock, a tree swing and a fire pit. From Little Havana it’s roughly 30 to 45 minutes by car, depending on traffic.
Foundry: Beachhouse is at 701 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, on the Intracoastal Waterway minutes from Hollywood Beach, with a rooftop terrace, a pool, ping pong, kayaks and a billiards room with a view of the water. It’s usually 35 to 50 minutes from Little Havana.
Both are FARR-certified men’s sober living houses, run by men in recovery who are active in the fellowship and built around the 12 steps: meetings, a sponsor, service. The rules are the ones listed above: no alcohol or drugs, randomized testing, a curfew, required meetings and chores. Rooms are furnished, and utilities, linens, laundry and high-speed internet are included. Early on we give rides to meetings and appointments; residents in good standing may have a car. Most men stay three to twelve months.
The Foundry is a recovery residence, not treatment or detox. It’s private pay, with scholarships for qualified men; we discuss rates on the phone. Men from nearby areas may also find our guides to Coral Gables, Brickell and downtown Miami and Westchester and Sweetwater useful, and our Miami-Dade ZIP code guide covers the whole county.
Llame hoy: call today
Call The Foundry at (954) 817-7143. Ask us anything. We don’t publish bed availability, so ask what’s open now.
If someone is in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which also offers help in Spanish, or call 911 in an emergency. Poco a poco, one day at a time, it gets better.
Maps: Little Havana to the Foundry houses
Tap a map for live directions from Little Havana to each house.
