The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given a nonprofit sober living home more than $400,000 in federal loans and grants to buy property in the Verde Valley.

Executive Director Damien Browning helped found the Steps to Recovery Homes with his wife in 2013.

“In the Verde Valley, there’s not a lot of options that focus on long-term recovery," Browning said. "There was a lot of relapse.”

Browning himself went through recovery after going through drug addiction for 19 years and spent part of that time incarcerated.

Since starting the sober living homes, he’s helped more than 300 people around Cottonwood.

Now, he’s hoping to help even more by purchasing a fourplex apartment building for a men’s facility with the federal loans.

“The deal is, for the last 5-and-a-half years, we’ve been renting places, and we’ve always wanted to purchase our own place so this organization can be self-sustaining,” he said.

The federal dollars come from the rural development arm of the USDA.

Browning said there’s a lot of need in rural Arizona, where addiction help isn’t always easily available.

“In Verde Valley, there aren't many options at all," he said. "There’s no in-patient, there’s no detox [programs]. It’s crazy."

The sober living home will be in Cottonwood and serve residents in nearby towns such as Sedona and Camp Verde.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The headline has been updated to correct the type of funding received.