All they need to do is to find a house to rent in the name of the group, and apply to Oxford House, Inc., for a charter. Oxford House, Inc. is a separate nonprofit organization that employs field staff to provide technical assistance to the network of houses to help expand the Oxford House Model. An Oxford House Chapter is an additional level of support for individual Oxford Houses.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Oxford House Model works.

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I just had to follow the rules, get along with everyone, and work on my recovery. It took me awhile to get used to being with a group of guys like myself. But together we have learned to manage and maintain the house and interact as a family. Experience of Oxford House has shown that from 8 to 15 members works very well. Oxford House will not charter a house with fewer than six individuals because experience has shown that it takes at least six individuals to form an effective group.

There is no time limit on residency; individuals can stay as long as they abide by the house rules and continue to contribute to the expenses and maintenance of the home. During our drinking and drug use years, and even before, many of us found it difficult to accept authority. Many individuals in society are able to abide by the strict letter of any rule, regulation , or law. Alcoholics and drug addicts seem to have a tendency to test and retest the validity of any real, potential, or imagined restriction on their behavior. By the time many of us had stopped drinking, we had lost jobs; we had lost families, and some of us either had no place to live or no place to live which was not an invitation to start drinking again. Oxford House was founded not only to put a roof over our head, but also to create a home where the disease of alcoholism was understood and the need for the alcoholic to stay away from the first drink was emphasized.

We’ll show you how Oxford Houses work together to form a self-supporting network of houses. For a couple of months in 1975, he found himself living on the streets and begging strangers for money before he entered a rehabilitation program. He moved to a county-run halfway house in Silver Spring, MD, to recover but soon learned that the facility was about to close. Oxford Houses are democratically self-run by the residents who elect officers to serve for terms of six months. In this respect, they are similar to a college fraternity, sorority, or a small New England town. Officers have fixed terms of office to avoid bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy.

Stay informed

Call the contact person for each house you’re interested in to set up an interview.

We provide a safe, affordable living environment that is supportive of individuals with substance use disorder.

oxford house sober living

Alternatively, if they would like to send their application to all houses near them that have an opening, they can Apply Online. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been living in the house for one day or for multiple years. Oxford House members share the house responsibilities and pitch in to do the chores. A long-running study by Chicago’s DePaul University shows that people completing one year of residency maintain a sobriety rate as high as 80 percent.

An Oxford House member can stay as long as they like, provided they stay drug and alcohol free, are not disruptive, and pay their share of house expenses. The charter of each Oxford House requires that an Oxford House meet certain minimum Sober Houses Rules That You Should Follow requirements of Oxford House, Inc. First of all, no Oxford House may permit individuals to remain as members if those individuals are drinking or using drugs. Second, an Oxford House must follow the democratic principles in running the house. Third, an Oxford House must, in essence be a good member of the community by obeying the laws and paying its bills. During the last days of our drinking or using drugs, most of us ceased to function as responsible individuals.

Democratically self-run

We were not only dependent upon alcohol and/or drugs, but were also dependent on many others for continuing our alcoholic and/or drug addicted ways. When we stopped drinking or using drugs, we began to realize just how dependent we had become. For those of us who had been in institutions or half-way houses, resentments against authority were common. In its simplest form, an Oxford House is a shared residence where people in recovery can live together and support each other in a drug and alcohol-free environment. Mr. Molloy and the other residents devised the basic rules of self-government that have shaped Oxford House ever since. Second, every resident would contribute equally to the expenses and household duties.

Sober House Description:

oxford house sober living

Experience has shown that Oxford Houses work for both men and women, but not in the same house. Depaul University has a team of researchers that have been studying the Oxford House model for more than a decade. Before spreading the word, an individual Oxford House should make certain that it is sufficiently established to undertake public discussion of it goals and mission. The best sales pitch for spreading the word about Oxford House is simply the establishment of a sound Oxford House and a straightforward discussion of what it is, how it works and why it is needed.

The Oxford House Model is‍time-tested and evidence-based.

When you call a house to set up an interview you can ask them how much their EES is. There are over 3500 self-sustaining Oxford Houses in the United States and more than 24,000 individuals in recovery living in these houses at any one time during the year. Oxford House is a national nonprofit for -peer-supported sober living. Yes, the prospective residents of the House can find a suitable house, rent it, put up the security deposit and pay the first month’s rent themselves.

Residents live together as a family to develop the tools and strengthen their character in order to live free from substance abuse. These homes allow for independence while guided by a set of recovery-focused house rules, standards, and expectations. Visit the Vanderburgh House website to learn more about their sober homes. At the Oxford House https://yourhealthmagazine.net/article/addiction/sober-houses-rules-that-you-should-follow/ World Convention held annually, Oxford Houses throughout the country vote for representatives to the World Council.

Oxford Houses of South Carolina

In Oxford House, each member equally shares the responsibility for the running of the House and upholding the Oxford House tradition. All aspects of Oxford House operations, from the acquisition of the house to the acceptance or dismissal of members, is carried out under democratic procedures. Each member has one vote and majority rule applies except that 80% of the members must agree in accepting new persons for membership. Instead of being left to their own fates, Mr. Molloy and other residents decided to take over the house themselves, paying the expenses and utilities, cooking the meals and keeping watch over one another’s path to recovery. Paul Molloy was a young lawyer on Capitol Hill who had a key role in drafting legislation that created Amtrak and other federal programs. He was also an alcoholic whose drinking would eventually cost him his job, his family and his home.

Be honest and straight-forward when sharing the Oxford House concept with others. Individuals living in each of the Oxford Houses have also been responsible for starting many new groups of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous having meetings near an Oxford House. This not only helps those individuals to become more involved in AA or NA, and thereby reap greater individual benefits, but also helps to build strong bonds between local AA and NA groups and Oxford House. Repayment from those start-up loans assures the continuation of the revolving fund to enable other new houses to get started — just as repayment of loans to chapters permits the same resources to be used again and again.

Alcoholism and drug addiction are international problems and Oxford Houses can provide recovering individuals the opportunity to become comfortable enough in sobriety to avoid relapse. As part of a comprehensive addiction treatment plan, recovery housing like Oxford Houses can play a crucial role in helping individuals stay in treatment and maintain their sobriety. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a stable living environment can significantly improve treatment outcomes. To learn more about the importance of recovery housing, you can read this NIDA article on recovery housing.

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous provided a framework for us to change physically, mentally, and spiritually. The degree to which we were able to successfully change our lives had a direct relationship to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Many of us soon learned, however, that living alone or living among our old drinking companions made it more difficult to practice the principles necessary for continued sobriety. The Model encourages the development of leadership skills and self-efficacy. Slowly but surely, members learn or relearn values and responsible behavior.