Sober Living in West Park and Pembroke Park: Building Recovery Through Service

There’s an old line in the rooms: you can’t keep it unless you give it away. I didn’t understand it at first. Now I think it’s one of the most practical things anyone ever told me about staying sober. This guide to sober living in West Park and Pembroke Park is built around that idea: service, volunteering and giving back as a working part of early recovery, in two small south Broward communities that know a thing or two about building something together.

We’ll cover what these two towns are like, their ZIP codes, how a men’s sober living house fits in, and where the service opportunities are. And before anything else, the honest part: The Foundry has no house in West Park or Pembroke Park. Our Beachhouse is in Hollywood, just to the northeast, roughly 15–20 minutes away depending on traffic, and our Lakehouse is in North Miami Beach, roughly 20–30 minutes southeast. For men from these neighborhoods, both are close to home without being in the middle of it.

Sober living in West Park and Pembroke Park: two towns that built themselves

West Park is one of Broward County’s newest cities. Residents of several unincorporated neighborhoods (Carver Ranches, Lake Forest, Utopia and the Broward County section called Miami Gardens) pushed for cityhood after the Florida Legislature cleared the way in 2004. Voters approved incorporation that November, 3,400 to 956, and the city government was seated in March 2005. The 2020 census counted 15,130 residents. In 2011, the national nonprofit KaBOOM! named West Park a Playful City USA community. It borders Miami-Dade County to the south, Hollywood to the north, Miramar to the west and Pembroke Park to the east. The city’s site is cityofwestpark.org.

Pembroke Park is much older and much smaller: incorporated in the late 1950s, it covers roughly a square mile, takes its name from Pembroke Road, and had 6,260 residents at the 2020 census. It’s a working town, home to hundreds of businesses and distribution operations, and it calls itself “The Small Town That Means Big Business.” Town Hall is at 3150 SW 52nd Avenue; the official site is tppfl.gov.

What I like about both places, from a recovery point of view, is that they’re communities where people had to show up. West Park exists because neighbors went to meetings, organized and voted. That’s not a bad model for a man trying to build a new life one commitment at a time.

Why service belongs in your recovery plan

When a man first gets sober, he’s usually focused on himself, and for good reason. He has a lot to repair. But self-focus has a ceiling. Here’s what service does that nothing else quite does:

• It breaks the loop of self-pity. It’s hard to obsess about your own problems while you’re carrying boxes for someone else.
• It builds a track record. Showing up on time for a commitment, week after week, is exactly the skill employers, families and courts want to see.
• It puts you around good people. Volunteer settings are full of people who aren’t drinking at 10 a.m. on a Saturday.
• It counts as structure. At The Foundry, residents are expected to be working, in school, volunteering or in an outpatient program within their first couple of weeks. Volunteering is a legitimate part of that, especially while a man is getting ready to work.
• It’s built into the steps. The twelfth step is about carrying the message and practicing the principles in all our affairs. Service is the program in action.

Service starts in the rooms

Your first service commitment probably won’t be glamorous. It’ll be making the coffee, setting up chairs, greeting newcomers at the door, or cleaning up afterward. Do it anyway. Take a commitment at your home group and keep it for months. When you’re ready, ask your sponsor about other service: sponsoring, speaking, or helping with group business.

Find meetings near West Park and Pembroke Park through AA’s meeting finder and NA’s meeting search. Our Hollywood AA meetings guide covers meetings just to the north. The Foundry’s program is built around the twelve steps, and residents are expected at meetings, with a sponsor.

What a week of service can look like

Here’s an illustrative sketch, not any one resident’s actual schedule, of how service fits into a normal week for a man about a month into sober living:

• Monday: Work or IOP during the day; home group at night, where he’s the coffee maker.
• Tuesday: House chores done before work. A call to his sponsor on the drive home.
• Wednesday: A meeting, then he stays late to stack chairs and talk to the new guy who sat in the back.
• Thursday: Step work with his sponsor.
• Saturday morning: A volunteer shift, maybe sorting food or helping at a community event, then lunch with two other men from the house.
• Sunday: House meeting, a call home, and an evening meeting.

Nothing on that list is dramatic. That’s the point. Service in early recovery is mostly small, repeated acts of showing up, and over a few months those small acts add up to a man other people can count on, including himself.

Volunteering in and around West Park and Pembroke Park

Once you’re settled and your house and sponsor agree you’re ready, look outward. A few places to start:

• Feeding South Florida. The regional food bank lists Pembroke Park as one of its volunteer locations. See feedingsouthflorida.org/volunteer for current opportunities.
• Broward County’s volunteer page. The county’s volunteer page points to programs including HandsOn South Florida and Volunteer Florida.
• Your city. Both West Park and Pembroke Park post community events on their official sites. Small cities often need hands for cleanups, giveaways and events. Call and ask.
• The library. Broward County Library’s Carver Ranches Branch is at 4735 SW 18th Street in West Park, a good place to start a search for volunteer roles, and a quiet place to work on a resume.

One caution from experience: don’t use service to avoid your own work. If you’re volunteering 30 hours a week and haven’t called your sponsor, the balance is off.

West Park and Pembroke Park ZIP codes

These two towns share ZIP codes with each other and with Hollywood and Hallandale Beach, and none of the ZIPs below uses either town’s name as its default postal city. I verified them with Wikipedia’s article for each town plus unitedstateszipcodes.org and zip-codes.com. Where only one source ties a ZIP to a town, I’ve said so.

For all of Broward, see our Broward County ZIP code guide, and for the city next door, our Hollywood ZIP code guide.

Getting around without a car

These towns are compact, which helps. West Park’s city offices sit on State Road 7, a major north–south corridor with Broward County Transit service. The Hollywood Tri-Rail station at 3001 Hollywood Boulevard, just west of I-95, is a short ride north and is served by BCT Route 7; check Tri-Rail’s site for schedules. Early on, Foundry residents get rides to meetings and appointments, and residents in good standing may have a car later.

What to look for in a men’s sober house

A house that takes service seriously usually takes everything else seriously too. Look for:

• Certification. Florida’s voluntary certification is set out in section 397.487 of the Florida Statutes; the credentialing body is the Florida Association of Recovery Residences (FARR). Read our FARR explainer.
• Enforced rules. No alcohol or drugs, randomized drug testing, curfew, chores and required meetings. Chores are service too, by the way.
• Brotherhood. A men’s sober living house works best when the men in it look out for each other. Our post on brotherhood in men’s sober living gets into why.
• Honest admissions. If a man needs detox or treatment first, a good house says so. Sober living is housing, not treatment.

Work: from volunteer to paycheck

Volunteering often leads to work. It gives you references, fills a gap on your resume and gets you used to a schedule. Pembroke Park’s many businesses, warehouses and distribution centers, and retail along State Road 7, are natural places to look for entry-level jobs. CareerSource Broward has free job-search help and a South Center in nearby Hollywood, and The Foundry helps residents with resumes and interviews.

For families

If you’re a family member, here’s a way to think about service: it’s a sign your loved one is turning outward, which is usually a good sign. Ask any house about its rules and its visiting policy; The Foundry has an initial blackout period before visits. Our family page covers the rest, and Al-Anon offers support for you.

The Foundry’s two houses

Foundry: Beachhouse is at 701 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, on the Intracoastal Waterway minutes from Hollywood Beach and roughly 15–20 minutes from West Park and Pembroke Park. It has a rooftop terrace, a pool, ping pong, kayaks and a billiards room with a waterway view.

Foundry: Lakehouse is at 871 NE 182nd Terrace in North Miami Beach, near Aventura and I-95, roughly 20–30 minutes away. It’s a lakeside home with eight bedrooms and five bathrooms, canoes and kayaks, a hammock, a tree swing and a fire pit.

Both are FARR-certified, men-only, and run by men in recovery who are active in the fellowship. Rooms are furnished, with utilities, linens, laundry and high-speed internet included. Sober living is private pay, with scholarships for qualified men. We give rates on a call and don’t publish bed availability. Most men stay three to twelve months.

Neighboring guides

See our guides to sober living in Miramar and sober living in Hallandale Beach.

Give it away to keep it

If you’re looking for sober living in West Park or Pembroke Park, FL, for yourself or someone you love, call The Foundry at (954) 817-7143 or visit our admissions page. We’ll answer straight and tell you what’s open.

If anyone is in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.

Maps: West Park and Pembroke Park to the Foundry houses

These routes start in West Park; tap a button for live directions from your own street.