The Sober Service Awards exist for one reason: the people doing the coolest work in recovery rarely get credit. They're not on TV. They're not running treatment empires. They're just out there, week after week, running rock climbing clubs and mural projects and sober trivia nights. This is where we recognize them.
Arguably the gold standard. A massive sober active community where the only cost of membership is 48 hours of sobriety. CrossFit, rock climbing, yoga, book clubs, music circles. Free. Everywhere.
Visit site →The OG of sober rec leagues. Started in Washington state in the 1980s, still running an 11-week season with 10 teams and 150+ players in the Yakima division alone.
Visit site →A regional hub for sober-friendly cafés and YPAA events across the East Coast, plus their own sober living residences in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and beyond.
Visit site →Founded by music industry pros who lived it. Young people in recovery write, record, and perform original music. High energy, real production value, and a focus on talent rather than diagnosis.
Visit site →Movement classes specifically for women at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley and veterans at VA Palo Alto. Addiction lives in the body. Syzygy works it back out the same way.
Visit site →Statewide murals painted by Oklahomans on their own recovery journeys. Public, permanent, and reducing stigma in plain sight.
Visit site →Specialized training in logistics, construction, and green energy, built specifically for people with resume gaps and background issues. Real skills, real paychecks, real career paths.
Visit site →Specialized vocational rehabilitation built specifically for people in recovery. Career exploration, work skills assessment, job readiness training, and direct placement.
Visit site →An LA nonprofit since 1992, built specifically for veterans. Combines substance abuse treatment, mental health care, job training, and housing into a single continuum. Vets arrive homeless and using; they leave with savings, a job, and stable housing.
Visit site →A robust volunteer network built specifically for people with lived experience. Peer mentoring roles, community service positions, and flexible hours that fit around the rest of recovery.
Visit site →Volunteers help underprivileged children get school supplies. Tangible, immediate, kid-focused community work. A great way to put service into practice with a family member or sponsor.
Visit site →Trains people in recovery to become Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialists, then puts them to work coaching others. The most direct path from "person in recovery" to "person professionally helping others."
Visit site →A program. A facilitator. A standing trivia night that's quietly saved twenty lives. We feature what's genuinely good, and we find out about it from people like you.
hello@soberserviceawards.org