- 1958 Church St, West Palm Beach, FL 33409
- info@fernhouse.org
- (561) 471-0430
The Fern House Living Area:
Fern House, Inc. (Est. 1983) Is a 501(c)(3) not for profit residential recovery program. We serve more than 250 indigent men annually with recovery based solution for substance use disorder. Our residents are referred to us from a variety of organizations such as the 15th Judicial Circuit, The Florida Department of Corrections, local churches & synagogs, and concerned citizens hoping we can help their loved ones. About 1/3 of our residents walk in off the streets asking for a solution to help them change their lives.
Our program is structured and disciplined and each resident is expected from day one to live within that structure. Each resident is expected to find gainful employment within the first two weeks of residency and use that job to contribute to the cost of their stay with us in the amount of $250 per week. This fee will cover housing, and three meals per day. all utilities and a recovery program that will put them on track to long-term sobriety, if they apply themselves.
Our staff that directly deals with residents are all Fern House alumni, we will never ask a resident to do something that we did not do in our personal journey to recovery. What worked for us, should also work for your loved ones, so we will push them hard to do all the things that got us sober. We believe in one addict or alcoholic helping another is the best approach to teaching sobriety.
Fern House is proud to say that we believe ourselves to be the toughest program in Palm Beach County to complete. We don’t make the program tough to keep people from improving themselves, we do it because when that person leaves Fern House, they are going to face life in the real world. Our jobs are to prepare each man for that inevitable day so they can have the best chance to succeed in an ever more difficult world to survive in, and do so sober.
Executive Director
Many would say early recovery is hard. We like to think of early recovery as different. It requires different actions, different choices, and different people in our lives. The real challenge in recovery is being able to go outside of your comfort zone to incorporate those new actions, choices, and people into our daily routine.
Whatever your normal routine, go ahead and leave that at home. Our daily schedule may seem like too much, it might even seem hard. Life is hard and we want to prepare our residents to stand on their own two feet in all aspects of life. Because of that, the first two weeks can be a culture shock. Once you learn the new routine; recovery is a much easier life than addiction, that we can promise you.
Each resident must be interviewed before being accepted into Fern House. We’ll talk about your background and current situation and discuss your goals for sobriety.
Each resident must express a sincere desire to get and stay sober. The staff must feel certain that the resident will benefit from a stay at Fern House.
Every resident must be committed to following all Fern House rules, regulations, and policies.
Give everyone who comes to us the chance to learn new ways of coping with their lives, through a program that helps them become useful, productive members of society rather than burdens on society.
Allow each man to reach his fullest potential by learning to live with discipline, structure and self-control. Help our residents clean up the wreckage of their lives, reunite with their families and make amends to those that they’ve hurt. Teach our clients to give back by helping others, volunteering and becoming engaged in their communities.
Fern House has zero-tolerance for the use of alcohol and drugs. This policy includes narcotic or non-narcotic prescription drugs that are considered mind-altering or mood-altering. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in your immediate termination from the program.
There are hundreds of alcohol/drug treatment centers and halfway houses in Palm Beach County. But there’s only one Fern House.
Since 1982, the Fern House has been an open door and an open heart for men trying to break free from the grip of alcoholism and drug addiction.
The Fern House program helps them achieve sustained sobriety so they can return to society as productive, responsible citizens.
How is the Fern House different? Why has it survived and thrived for so many years while other facilities come and go like dust in the wind? There are many reasons, one being their executive director – Charles “Chuck” Cordle.
As a member of the Fern House Alumni, Chuck has his own experience overcoming addiction.
Help us open our doors to those unable to open them for themselves. Our Indigent Care Fund has allowed us to open the doors to over a thousand men that otherwise might not have been able to find help. Your contribution to Fern House will help ensure we can continue our mission to restore dignity and hope to those suffering from addiction. donation of $250.00 will allow us to take a homeless person off the streets and give them a starting point to rebuild a life of purpose. With your help, we can continue our mission to restore dignity and hope to those suffering from addiction.
2023 marks the sixth and final year of the “Foundations for the Future” Campaign; our six-year effort to raise $2,500,000 for the construction of a new health-conscious cooking facility and dining hall of increased capacity to serve the entire Fern House West Palm Beach and Lake Worth/Harry Hamilton Campus residency. The new building’s blueprint includes a recreation room to promote residents’ well being, study and relaxation; as well as smartly configured office space that will pave the way to success in our future expansion efforts. We are pleased to announce construction on this began in May of 2023.
Meetings are a big part of every resident’s stay at Fern House. There are several reasons why they’re mandatory.
Fern House is based on the simple but powerful principles of fellowship and mutual help. Working together, we teach men to function without alcohol or drugs, take responsibility for everything they do, and transform their shattered lives into lives of dignity and purpose. That’s what we provide in practical terms. But what we offer our clients is actually something more powerful and more profound. At Fern House, addicts and alcoholics find hope. This is something that many of them haven’t felt for a long time. We watch them take that hope and use it to build a whole new life.
Let me know more about the volunteer opportunities available.
Join our leadership team and help drive more donations.
1958 Church St
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
Fern House is a 501(c)(3) registered charity based in West Palm Beach, Florida. We house 56 residents at full capacity.
Fern House accepts no federal, state or local funding. All of our operations and expenses are paid by the residents, who pay their own rent and other expenses. We do not fundraise operating costs. All fundraising goes towards capital projects and future expansion.
Taxpayers, Not Tax Burdens. Fern House accepts no government taxpayer funds, we have a formula that allows us to exist without tax dollars. This financial responsibility is a key part of Fern House’s success. Too many men that we see have struggled a whole lifetime with addictions that have cost them their jobs, their families and their self-respect also usually, their finances are in disarray. They might have court-ordered settlements to pay. Typically, they’re used to spending everything they earn on their drug of choice.
Fern House turns that around, making each resident a responsible taxpayer instead of a tax burden. Every resident is required to have a job, participate in nightly meetings and house meetings, and share in the household chores.
Many of the men who arrive at Fern House are at the end of their ropes financially, legally and socially. These are the men most at risk of falling through the cracks of other programs. At Fern House, we help them get off the streets, stand on their own feet and rebuild their lives from the ground up.
