Founded by former active addict Sarah Laurel and her brother Adam, Savage Sisters is a family run, one-of-a-kind recovery and harm reduction organisation operating at the centre of America’s largest urban opioid crisis.

To understand Savage Sisters, you must first understand its founder, Sarah who became addicted to opioids after a prescribed stint on Percocet to treat carpal tunnel.

Sarah went to rehab 27 times before she got sober. She attended countless meetings and worked the programme but knew that NA and AA were never going to be enough to keep her sober. During her final relapse Sarah was thrown from a third story window and sustained severe injuries to her entire body that meant she’d have to learn to walk again. It was 18 horrific hours before she received medical attention.

“I was a broken person” says Sarah of that time, but it was in the midst of that pain that she dreamed up her vision for Savage Sisters (the name ‘Savage’ was taken from the shirt she was cut out of by EMT’s.) Her plans started out modest—she did outreach from the boot of her car and just wanted a house where her female friends could come and be safe. Today Savage has scaled to three women’s houses, three men’s houses and an extensive outreach and harm reduction program.

Now three years sober, Sarah treats substance use disorder in others with what she calls ‘radical love’. As an addict she knows what rock bottom feels like and that the only way out is to begin to value yourself.

Sarah now dedicates her life to giving unconditional love to those society deems unworthy of it. The program she has designed for Savage Sisters is trauma-informed and pro-social, meaning they aim to build an environment that encourages healthy interpersonal relationships while healing internal trauma. Each facility houses seven residents and they all pull their weight. Chores are shared among the group and one resident is appointed house manager to keep everyone in check. Cultivating a culture of self love is especially important at the women’s houses where Sarah stresses the importance that each woman know her worth. Compulsory activities like kickboxing, yoga and trauma therapy help to build their confidence as well as provide practical coping skills like mindfulness to help deal with stress.

Spending time at Savage Sisters, there is a warmth in the air that is missing from other sober living facilities. Sarah is providing her residents with more than just housing—she is inviting them into a lifelong family with a bond thicker than blood.

This is a new approach to treating substance use disorder and Sarah is determined to make it the blueprint for drug education and recovery nation-wide—and with Savage Sisters already producing the highest long-term recovery rate in Philadelphia, she’s off to a good start.