About Solstice Recovery
The Short Version
Eric Bornstein got sober in a house a lot like the ones he now runs. That's why Solstice Recovery exists.
We are three peer-led sober living homes on the Los Angeles Westside, in Culver City, Venice, and Brentwood. Each one has a live-in house manager, weekly testing, and a 12-step foundation. Eric is in the houses regularly and answers his own phone.
Eric Bornstein and How Solstice Started
Eric drank for years before anything changed. What eventually changed it was not a program or a professional. It was moving into a sober living house, going to meetings, and having people around who noticed when he was not doing well.
He has been sober since September 6, 2015.
That date matters here for a practical reason. Eric didn't study recovery and decide to open a business in it. He lived in a house like this, worked the Steps in Los Angeles rooms, and came out the other side. When he tells a resident that the first ninety days are the worst of it and that it gets easier, that is not a sales line.
Before opening Solstice Recovery, he worked as a sober coach in Los Angeles, which put him alongside people at every stage of recovery: the first week out of detox, the third relapse, the second year. That range is what shaped how the houses run.
Where the Name Comes From
The solstice is the turning point. The longest night of the year, and also the moment the light starts coming back.
Almost everyone who calls us is somewhere in that long night. The name reminds us that the turn is real, not a metaphor someone made up to sound encouraging.
From One House to Three
Solstice started with one home in Culver City. It worked, word moved through the Westside recovery community, and beds filled.
We have since opened two more, in Venice and in Brentwood. All three run identically: same rules, same weekly testing, same live-in house manager, same amenities. What changes is the neighborhood, and we help people pick the one that fits their commute, their meetings, and how much quiet they need.
Growing slowly was deliberate. Three houses is a number where Eric still knows every resident by name. That is worth more than scale.
What We Believe About Recovery
Peers work
Someone eight months sober can say a thing to a newcomer that no professional can say with the same weight. Our houses hold residents at every stage on purpose, because that spread is what makes a house useful, not just safe.
Structure is kindness
Curfews, chores, weekly testing, and meeting requirements are not there to control anyone. They are there because early recovery is easier when fewer decisions are up for negotiation at eleven at night.
Honesty over comfort
We will tell you if we think you need detox first. We will tell you if we think a different house fits you better. We will tell you if we think you are not ready. None of that is good for filling a bed; it's all better for the person asking.
What Solstice Is Not
We are not a treatment center. There is no clinical staff, no therapy on site, and no medical care. We do not detox anyone, we do not manage medication, and we do not run clinical programming.
What we do is housing and community, with structure that holds. When a resident needs outpatient care, a therapist, a prescriber, or a detox bed, we refer them to people we have worked with for years across Los Angeles.
Being clear about that line is part of the point. Plenty of places in this industry blur it.
Talk to Eric Directly
There is no admissions department here. When you call, you get Eric.
He will ask where you are in your recovery, answer whatever you want to ask about cost, rules, or the houses, and tell you honestly whether Solstice Recovery is the right fit. If it is not, he will usually know where to send you.