Starting Over Sober

Starting Over Sober was founded in 2008. The company is located in Haverhill and incorporated in Massachusetts. Starting Over Sober specializes in Alcoholism Rehabilitation Hospital.

In 2016 there were very clients at the program. By the end of August the owner of the program, Michael Harris ran out of money. Harris ran out of money and had to close the program. That was good news. He was a bully and went after clients who were vulnerable. Having a sociopath run the program made it difficult for people to truly get anything out of it. No one ever sober houses are suppose to be mansions. That being said they should at least be livable. Starting Over Sober (SOS) was anything but that. It was outrageous to be charged $800 a month to live in such descript conditions. Code enforcement employees came to the house on one occasion. They weren't allowed in the house. The house was always overcrowded. There were countless health and fire violations. Evidently Harris "knew someone" in the offices that enforce codes. The complaints just went away. Last year on a Facebook post Harris, going by the screen name of Mike Harry, stated that no one died while they were in the program. That was a blatant lie. When the program was in Salisbury a client bled out from excessive drinking. In March, 2013 a client, Sean Hanagan died of an accidental overdose in the program's apartment. Harris's statement that no one died in the program is an insult to the deceased's memory. It's also very disrespectful to their families. One can only hope that Harris doesn't open up another sober house. He shouldn't be working with farm animals, let alone people who are vulnerable and in recovery. The good news is that in 2017 the former SOS house was gutted. It's now a very livable place. The house is run well by an owner/ director who really cares about the clients and treats them like human beings, something Harris didn't do. The name of the new house is called "36 Green Street" in Haverhill.

R.I.P. Starting Over Sober

Yelp is correct Starting Over Sober (SOS) is closed. It has been closed since 2016. The former owner of it, Michael Harris, left a so-called "good bye" message on SOS's account on Facebook last November. In this message were the same lies that he always tells. In this message Harris stated that not one client died of an overdose while in the program during the 14 years he ran it. That is a LIE! When the program was in Salisbury Beach a client bled to death from excessive drinking. On March 30, 2013 Sean Hanagan who was a client was found dead of an overdose in the program's apartment that he shared with the director, Danny Bowman. It's amazing that Harris continues to lie. Especially when it's about clients who he obviously knows died while in his program. Having been a client at SOS for a lengthy amount of time I can accurately say that SOS wasn't run well at all. Harris was a bully who told lie after lie. The sober house was a fire and health hazard. The day SOS closed was a good one. Harris isn't fit to work with farm animals, let alone run a sober house. The good news is that in the former SOS is a new sober house, 36 Green Street. Unlike the one Harris had 36 Green Street is well run and is even licensed by the state. The owners gutted the house, making it very much livable for the clients. R.I.P. SOS!

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