Step 13

Specialties

Step 13 is a men’s residential recovery program in downtown Denver that offers its residents the opportunity to recover from the disease of addiction and become productive members of their communities through a program that focuses on the facets of sobriety, work, and personal accountability.

Step 13 provides a structured environment that offers programming based on the Recovery Oriented Systems of Care Model and the Peer Recovery Support Model. Our men participate in Recovery Education Groups, 12 Step Fellowship Meetings and are assigned a Recovery Support Manager that assists the residents in setting and reaching goals in all areas of their lives. In addition, Step 13 offers its residents physical fitness equipment along with recreational and spiritual activities to help provide self-​care and life balance. Through our partnership with Goodwill Industries, residents have access to education, counseling, opportunities and placement for employment and career development.

Men, 21 and older, seeking to enter Step 13 would complete a telephone interview and background check. Due to city and county laws governing facilities of this type and to ensure a safe environment, Step 13 will not admit men convicted of violent or sexual offenses. There is no initial cost to be admitted to Step 13 and with the goal of having the residents become self-​sufficient, men will be required to pay $ 10/​day or $ 60/​week for fees as well as to purchase and cook their own food in a communal kitchen.

History

Established in 1983.

Bob Coté grew up in Detroit, MI, and was a Golden Gloves boxer. Those experiences prepared Bob for the challenges life presented him. A successful career in sales took Bob to Denver in the early 80’s; however, it was during this time where addiction took hold of Bob and would chart a different course for his life — a course marked by adversity and, ultimately, triumph.

Bob’s addiction consumed him to the point he wound up living on Denver’s skid row. In a moment of clarity he saw the demise and occasional death of other homeless addicts. Bob knew he might suffer the same fate so he emptied his bottle to become and remain sober. He would recruit others in his effort to help homeless addicts gain their sobriety which led to his founding of Step 13.

Bob Coté would became a fixture on Larimer Street. A towering presence of tough love, American Enterprise magazine described him as «a one-​man alternative to the welfare state. Take one part Florence Nightingale, add three parts John Wayne,