Lived Experience. Generational Change.

Understanding the vision which drives Sanctuary Recovery Centers, must naturally begin with the story of the man who operates it. Characteristically of those in his position, he would rather talk about the work than about himself. For more than two decades Sanctuary has quietly served the Valley. It began in 2006 as a single sober living house in Phoenix with no logo, no paperwork, not even a formal company behind it. There was simply a name, an ethos, and an open door for people who needed somewhere to recover.

Joey Landin is the man behind it all. Having had struggles when he was younger, he understands the loneliness and despair brought about by substance use and the tough love that is sometimes used by worrying families. These struggles of life were somewhat behind him by the time he walked into Sanctuary’s doors in 2010; not as the CEO but rather as a resident. He was out of options, and finally willing to try something different for a better way of life.

 

Finding Purpose and Passion

The events which follow are the things people tend to remember. Recovery not only gave Joey back his life, but it provided a purpose and passion for him to stay. Within a year he was managing the house, collecting rent from the residents, helping the next man find work, and most importantly, sitting up with someone on his first shaky night the same way others had once sat up with him. During the housing crisis in 2008, the original management allowed the house to slip into foreclosure. Imagine coming home one day to find a sign staked in the front yard announcing what feels like impending doom.

An entrepreneur at heart, Joey was following his first and longest passion; he had opened a small mechanic shop in the garage of the sober living home. It later become “Helping Hand Auto”, a vocational training program and second chance employer, hiring and servicing those in the recovery community. Joey made the only decision he could have made at the time; by putting up his own money to save the home that gave him his life back. He took over operations and taught himself the business from the ground up. The client had become the caretaker. The caretaker would become the CEO.

In the intervening years Joey stopped thinking like a house manager and started planning for the future. And he knew from experience that sobriety was rarely enough to ensure the health and wellness of those entrusted to his care.

When individuals enter Sanctuary struggling with both co-occurring mental health symptoms and substance use, a bed and a set of rules aren’t enough. True recovery requires addressing both sides of the crisis, not just half. Knowing the gravity of this situation, Joey expanded the mission and vision of Sanctuary and created Sanctuary Recovery Centers. Designed to be a broader scope of care built to truly meet the needs of those most affected. He has stayed mostly out of the spotlight ever since, more comfortable running a serious organization than being the face of a story.

The pattern is hard to miss when one knows where to look. The vision has been shepherded and built by someone who needed it first. Joey’s lived experience functions more like a blueprint than a backstory. Here, more than anywhere else, lived experience is paramount. Having stood at the crossroads, having faced his own struggles, and now providing a place where individuals can cultivate resilience and restoration is foundational to building an organization that overcomes any barrier.

He understands that struggles are almost never really about the substance, they are masking the pain a person was never taught to name, let alone begin to treat. It is why Sanctuary Recovery Centers leads with mental health and dual-diagnosis care by treating the wound rather than only the symptom, so sobriety finally has something solid to stand on. Sanctuary meets people exactly where he once stood by delivering care without judgment. Care is delivered by people who understand. Joey believes that peers helping peers will change the world. He understands the stigma of being reduced to a diagnosis and the power of teaching people they are so much more.

 

The Reentry Program

This is why Sanctuary Recovery Centers built a reentry program, and why the small shop, started in a garage, has grown into an honest and affordable car repair shop. Helping Hand Auto is staffed by people in recovery. Having used grant funds to fix cars for women with children and veterans, today it mentors young people from Sanctuary’s adolescent program, handing them real job skills, the same skills Joey was once handed. Reminding him of the connection to his grandfather with whom he shares a passion for cars.

The goal was never one man’s comeback. Sanctuary Recovery Centers does not exist because of buildings or licenses; it exists because people have chosen to give back.

Leading from experience rather than theory, Joey and programs like this pave the way for individuals to experience a life better than they have ever known or could even imagine. That is what makes Sanctuary worthy of its name. A place where men and women, at their lowest, can begin the slow work of generational change in a way that does not stop with them, but reaches the family that comes after, and the one after that.

Sanctuary’s vision now runs across a full continuum of care, from Residential Treatment, PHP, IOP, Transitional Living, Adolescent, Women’s, and Reentry programs.

 

Proud Moment 2026 

In April, Joey Landin and the Sanctuary Recovery Centers team celebrated 20 years of delivering hope, healing, and recovery.

 

Sanctuary has been recognized by the City of Phoenix and Arizona Department of Health Services for the quality of care delivered. Every level of care that Joey and the Sanctuary team has created represents a powerful moment in lived experiences driven by a passion to truly help people.

Today, Joey Landin has a beautiful family, a loving wife and three amazing kids that will only know him as a man who serves others and builds a community that creates the path to lasting generational change.

Twenty years ago, a door was left open for people who had nowhere else to go. Sixteen years ago, a young man walked through it. He has never walked back out.

From the outside, it looks less like a traditional career and more like a debt being repaid—one open door at a time. Door after door —Sanctuary is growing rapidly and illuminating the dark to help the next generation into the light.

 

Learn more about Sanctuary Recovery Centers by visiting
https://www.sanctuaryrecoverycenters.com