At Chicago sober home, help with recovery comes with rules

CHICAGO (AP) — On a recent morning, Henry McGhee checked in on the residents of one of the four sober homes he owns in Chicago.

The Associated Press toured one of McGhee's homes — a small apartment building in a tidy working-class neighborhood — to get a look at a growing segment of an industry responding to strong demand for addiction treatment.

McGhee "is among the most passionate people on the planet," said Theodora Binion, retired director of Illinois' Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, who gave him his start by approving state funding for two beds in his first home for addicts who need housing after drug treatment.

McGhee's own addiction to cocaine cost him a career in law enforcement when he resigned from the Illinois State Police to seek treatment.