About the SOBE Room
The Sobe Room has a very large “footprint”, attracting a steady stream of people as diverse as South Beach - men and women, young and old, gay and straight, affluent and homeless, and snow birds and travelers from around the country and from all over the world. Hundreds walk through our door every day – and every day newcomers wash up on our shore and are introduced to the idea that “There is a Solution.”
Before there was a Sobe Room there was “Sober on South Beach”, an Alcoholics Anonymous group organized in 1983 for gays and lesbians living in Miami Beach. That group grew into a fellowship open to all.
Over the years, as Sober on South Beach established a strong presence for Alcoholics Anonymous on the Beach, the group found it necessary to move its meetings several times, with leases not being renewed and rents rising dramatically as South Beach became a “destination.”
The idea of securing a property was a controversial one. The Traditions are clear about AA not owning property. Following the “clubhouse” example, a group of members of Sober on South Beach formed a nonprofit organization, The Sobe Room, Inc, with the purpose of purchasing a building and providing Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step recovery programs with a permanent home for recovery on South Beach.
In 2003, a former artist’s studio and one of the oldest surviving houses on South Beach was purchased, at 1718 Bay Road. Today, the Sobe Room is home to seven AA meetings every day, including “La Gran Manzana” in Spanish. Al Anon has three meetings a week, Sex Addicts Anonymous meets daily and there are weekly meetings of Crystal Meth Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in Portuguese and English. Anorexic & Bulimics Anonymous meets twice a week.
We have few newest editions, Underearners Anonymous and Marijuana Anonymous which meets weekly and Yoga and Recovery meets daily.
As the Big Book says, “So to you out there who may soon be with us – we say, “Good luck and God bless you!”