A new sober living facility, Here We Are Recovery, is set to open in Billings on Monday. It's opening at a time that State Representative and Senator, Mike Yakawich, refers to as a "behavioral health crisis," in Montana. Inside the home, located on Rimrock Road, you'll find several warm beds to sleep, multiple TVs to watch, several bathrooms, two living rooms, two kitchens, and two laundry rooms. Those things may be simple, but for those in addiction recovery, could mean the most. Tim Raykowski is set to manage and direct the household. He's on his own recovery journey, and as a part of his 12th step, is looking to give back to the community in a meaningful way. "Just providing a home where people can feel safe and grow in their recovery, that's really the most important thing to me," Raykowski said Saturday. Raykowski told MTN he's spent time in several different sober living facilities, and is planning to use that experience to manage his own. For instance, Raykowski said he wants the residents to be held accountable, follow rules, and attend weekly meetings, but also have the freedom to make their own decisions as they please. "It's really hard to feel good about yourself living in a homeless shelter. It's really hard to feel good about yourself when you're living in a sober living home where other people are using drugs or drinking," says Raykowski. The home used to be an assisted living housing unit. It's owned by Realtor and Billings native, Casey Gregerson, who purchased the furniture and remodeled the house. Raykowski said he couldn't have ever imagined opening a sober living facility without Gregerson's help, or mentorship from Tara Williamson, director of Support and Techniques for Empowering People (STOP). "This is going to keep me grounded and give me help in my recovery. So, helping others, I'm going to reap the benefits from that as well," Raykowski said. 10 out of the 13 beds are still available, and Raykowski is still accepting applications for residents. Here We Are Recovery is opening at a time when many Montanans are currently struggling with addictive addiction and alcoholism, and a crisis when it comes to accessible sober living facilities. "The houses in Billings, constantly having long wait-lists, constantly having beds completely filled with nowhere for the person on the wait-list to go... If Billings has this long of a wait-list, I can only imagine the needs in other cities," Raykowski said. Republican State Legislator, Mike Yakawich, is currently working to combat this issue. Yakawich serves on the Behavioral Health Commission, and is currently working on 11 bills regarding mental health, suicide prevention, and substance abuse disorder. In 2022, Montana saw a decline in sober living facilities in Montana due to financial pressures. Now in 2025, rather than declining, Yakawich says sober living facilities are actually improving and "evolving." "The sober living homes are now joining national organizations. So, they're not just there one day and gone the next week... They're holding themselves more accountable to their responsibility to bringing people in," Yakawich said Saturday over a virtual interview. In 2023, Yakawich proposed House Bill 311, which uses federal grant money to provide those with substance use disorder the opportunity to get treatment with free room and board. "This voucher, what it does, is allows them to remove the barrier that 'I can't afford room and board.' It's $1,000. It's like a kick start treatment program for them," he said. The voucher program has a yearly $300,000 limit, and any unused funds roll back into the Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) initiative, a $25 million investment by Gov. Gianforte for behavioral health programs. The voucher program is set to end in 2027, although Yakawich hopes he can persuade those in the legislature to continue it afterwards. Between Raykowski's local work in Billings, and Yakawich's work state-wide, both hope to tackle the behavioral health crisis one day at a time. To apply for one of the beds at Here We Are Recovery, Raykowski can be reached at [email protected].