Photo courtesy of 4th Dimension Sobriety
Jazon Gonzalez - 4th Dimension Sobriety
Jason Gonzalez
The sober living community at 4th Dimension Sobriety, located at 500 E. Center Street between the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods, is led with a carefully-tailored holistic approach. Founded in 2012, the organization prides itself on being one of Milwaukee’s largest sober living spaces, offering a multitude of drug and alcohol addiction treatment options ranging from 12-step programs to art therapy to transitional housing. Founder Jason Gonzalez uses his lived experience, leadership skills and commitment to accountability to sustain a thriving sober living community that sits at the intersection of faith, recovery and transformation.
“We try to hit three parts: the head, the hands and the heart,” Gonzalez says. “The mind is always an important thing to feed with knowledge. The hands are what we do with our days to serve and help our community. With your heart, what are you doing to fill your malnourished spirit? That looks differently for a lot of people.”
In addition to being a sober living house, 4th Dimension Sobriety helps clients find work, pay bills, establish healthy daily routines, exercise and meditate, and be accountable to positive life changes throughout its three or six-month programs. Residents of the house are provided food, clothing and toiletries in a safe, structured and supportive environment. The organization hosts events for residents like art gatherings, service projects and family dinners.
Lived Experience
Volunteers help with the daily maintenance, housekeeping and meal preparation. 4th Dimension Sobriety accepts monetary donations as well as donated goods like paper towels, bath tissue and furniture.
“Most of our staff are in recovery,” Gonzalez mentions. “We’ve all been there. We’ve all lived it. It’s a level of understanding we have.”
Addiction and substance abuse can affect anyone of any background, class, or level of education. Gonzalez grew up in Riverwest with a big, loving family. He was privileged with a quality education, and he attended college at both Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) and Saint Louis University. However, as he attests, “None of that stuff matters when it comes to drugs and alcohol.”
Gonzalez, a high school teacher, reckons that he was always able to put on a front for people to make it seem like nothing was wrong. Behind the scenes, however, he was struggling.
Seeking Help
“If I got good grades, no one was going to ask any questions,” he adds. When it got to the point that he could no longer hide his drinking from others, Gonzalez sought help. He found a sober community group down the road from his Riverwest home. There, he learned new ways to love both himself and others, be of service, and live by principles.
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“It was almost like not drinking was the easy part,” Gonzalez remembers. “Being honest and trying to repair your faults in the past was the hard part.”
Five years into his recovery, Gonzalez came across two young men who had just been kicked out of their living situation. He took them in, and then when they left, Gonzalez took in several more people. At one point, Gonzalez had 14 guys living in his house.
Practicing Principles
“We were all trying to do the same thing, practicing our principles,” he explains. “We had a pretty rigorous life. Our meditation meetings would start at 5:30 in the morning. Then we would go to work, and come back home, and we had a set of things that we had to do until night that was all about holding one another accountable and truly building a brotherhood.”
This group eventually became 4th Dimension Sobriety, and they would open a women’s sober living house as well as a treatment center at 1216 N. Prospect Avenue. During Covid times, Gonzalez connected with real estate developer Juli Kaufmann, who owned the building that previously housed Cream City Hostel. In 2023, after earning several grants and donations, Gonzalez secured the building as the new, permanent home of 4th Dimension Sobriety.
“When I got sober, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t drinking because I had a thriving recovery community with me,” Gonzalez affirms. “Whatever we’re doing has to have depth and weight to it if it’s going to keep us around.”
He concludes with a message for those on their own recovery journeys, “You’ve got to start very small and just do the next step. If that means picking up the phone, then that’s what that means. Slow down, and the next thing will come.”
This summer, 4th Dimension Sobriety is hosting biweekly art gatherings where murals meant to represent sobriety and recovery will be painted. Anyone seeking help may either contact 4th Dimension Sobriety at 414-323-9266 or fill out an admission application. If 4th Dimension Sobriety does not have a bed available, they will recommend clients to fellow sober living communities.
