The Firebird Way = Deeper Living for a Sober Life

We Do Transform… Learning to Live Fully.

​We’re more than just sober living. Firebird offers structured, individualized, and inclusive addiction support programs to transform lifelong cycles of addiction and associated trauma. We focus on what already works- personal strengths, virtues and willpower- while blending honored traditions that teach and foster listening. We practice living mindfully, which includes much more than you’d traditionally think when you hear that term. The mind is a very powerful and expansive idea- right?

Personalized, Progressive, Mindful & Fun

Our innovative paths to recovery are more than just “activities.” We’re a close-knit community which creates new foundations of trust. The goal is to leave with a sustainable future and new real world takeaway skills and a healed self and family. We have a blast doing it- that’s a must!
Many of our Members choose to advance their education so they can make a career versus an hourly wage, but it’s ultimately each person’s path to choose. To advance career goals, we pay application fees for area schools and colleges.

Our distinctive program is comprised of two homes, both representing stages of growth and a Member’s personal choice in recovery planning. Everyone begins lakeside at Kingfisher House, serenely surrounded by inspiring mountains. Following a successful residency, Advanced Members progress to our neighborhood residence, the hillside Redtail House across the French Broad River in West Asheville.

We promote integration through gradual acclimation. Volunteerism, education, training and/or vocational assessment are core, timely goals. Our tier-based, incentive-driven system of practical goal setting builds confidence and creates tangible accomplishments. Most importantly- we have fun. We make it quite clear that sober living doesn't have to be somber living! Our curriculum is focused on intensive introspection, wellness of body-mind-soul, and group bonding experiences. We rigorously practice the Twelve Steps while fully subscribed to the latest research, to ensure recovery is not just a phase of healing but an aspect of enduring change, keeping pace with best practice in addiction science. We teach the power of choices, transparency, adaptability, tolerance of everyday stressors, and new ways of looking at the same old problems. We pair our Members to vetted Outpatient Clinicians and in the Asheville area, as a strong program recommendation for sustained wellbeing.

“[My son has] finally found really a good group of supportive and kind friends all because of Firebird. Because of you all, I’m finally getting my life back.  We know  his journey is just beginning, starting with a new way of thinking and living. We needed help and you all were/are there for him. I’m so thankful, Jay, to you and everyone there.”
– T, Mother

“[Firebird has] been a catalyst in transforming my life. I will always be grateful for and look up to… The example you set for the boys and I is amazing.”
– S, Alumni

“Firebird Transformations is a loving, kind oasis for men who are in great need of such.  I have seen my son grow and develop in ways that I thought were not possible.”
– J, Father

“Based on the transformation of my son while in the care of the Firebird staff, I feel very confident recommending them to any man in need of their services.  They were truly a gift from God for our family at a time when we didn’t know where to turn.”
– K, Mother

Why Transformation?

We all are very privileged to experience a journey, every day, from the moment we rise and through the solitude of sleep. We hurl through space while seeming so steadfastly fixed to Earth. Within our bodies and minds, incomprehensible mysteries and mechanisms of healing perform so fantastically that only centuries ago, these would be called magic. Indeed, that our lives have been saved so often from the brink of death is still called a miracle. Why, then, should we call the changing of our lives from tragic struggles to confident newness anything short of transformation? Recovery is a word we understand to mean to get back up on one’s feet- but often on the same ground where we were standing. Transformation is about a complete revolution in the way of being, doing, and becoming who you are called to be.

Recovery to us is more than a clinical term. Recovery is an essential social justice movement to reclaim the value of living an impactful life. We are not simply a sober living program seeking to maintain the status quo. Per a recent NY Times article, “The death rate from drug overdoses is climbing at a much faster pace than other causes of death, jumping to an average of 15 per 100,000 in 2014 from nine per 100,000 in 2003.” We need to be willing to be pioneering, spirited, courageous, and bold in the field, while putting our ethics and best practices above everything else to address this immediate need. We can’t afford not to, there's too much at stake. Organizationally, our practice is collaboration over competition, for these very reasons.

A Unique Vision For Unique People:
Restoring Dignity & Deeper Realities for Those Who Struggle

Our Founder and CEO Jay Joslin, who has committed himself to creating community within the culture of Asheville Sober Living programs by raising the ethical bar; lifting each other up in the name of the marginalized. And especially for those who cannot access the support services like these.