Some of us had lived for a time in alcoholic and drug rehabilitation facilities. Those facilities provided us with shelter, food, and therapy for understanding alcoholism. Initially, the structure and supervision of such facilities were acceptable because physically and mentally, we were exhausted. Later, some of us were to move into half-way houses which provided shelter, food, and supervision. As our recovery progressed, the supervision and dependency on a halfway house created dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction was in part the realization that we were shirking responsibility for our own lives and in https://thecinnamonhollow.com/a-guide-to-sober-house-rules-what-you-need-to-know/ part a resentment of authority.
- Each member pays EES (Equal Expense Share) which includes the total amount of rent due for the month, utilities and basic staples for the house.
- Alternatively, if you’d like to send your application to all houses near you that have an opening, you can Apply Online.
- In 1987, the late Bill Spillane, Ph. D., who had retired from NIDA and was teaching at Catholic University School of Social Work in Washington, D.C.
- The World Council is comprised of 12 members, 9 of which presently live in an Oxford House, 3 who are alumni.
- Things that I have learned through AA and Oxford House are an attitude of gratitude, acceptance, love, forgiveness, compassion, and the willingness to take that next step.
- He was also an alcoholic whose drinking would eventually cost him his job, his family and his 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.
Business meetings
- 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.
- Later, some of us were to move into half-way houses which provided shelter, food, and supervision.
- In carrying out its mission the Council always keeps a focus on expansion of the network of individual Oxford Houses, to provide all recovering alcoholics and drug addictions the opportunity to develop comfortable sobriety without relapse.
- 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.
- Oxford House, Inc. acts as the coordinating body for providing charters for the opening of new Oxford Houses.
This manual describes how chapters work and are organized to strengthen the world network of Oxford Houses. While Oxford House, Inc. has the sole authority to grant Oxford House charters, the World Council acts as an advisory council to the board. For more than twenty-five years, a DePaul University-based research team has been involved in studying Oxford Houses in order to better understand the role they play in substance abuse recovery. The national scope of Oxford House and its long history makes it the only recovery house system that has been the subject of so much independent research. Each member pays EES (Equal Expense Share) which includes the total amount of rent due for the month as well as the cost of utilities, telephone, cable TV and any other expenses that the house includes in its common expenditures.
A recovering individual can live in an Oxford House for as long as he or she does not drink alcohol, does not use drugs, and pays an equal share of the house expenses. The average stay is about a year, but many residents stay three, four, or more years. When we stopped drinking, we began to realize that in order to stay stopped, our lives would need to change.
A tribute to our late co-founder and CEO, Paul Molloy
The primary purpose of each Chapter is to assure that each oxford House operates in a way that is consistent with the Oxford House Traditions and system of operations as described in the Oxford House Manual. Chapters have become the front-line building blocks of quality control and mutual assistance for the continued success of all Oxford Houses. Experience has shown that both the individual houses and Oxford House, Inc. as a whole are more likely to succeed and last if every house belongs to a chapter. Starting new Houses through the mutual assistance of existing Oxford Houses is a tradition because each House was started with the help of existing Houses and tends to pass on to others that which they received. Once more applications are received than there are beds available, the members of any Oxford House will begin to look around for another suitable house. When they find such a house they will bring it A Guide To Sober House Rules: What You Need To Know up with the other existing Houses and if there is a consensus they will attempt to find the start up money and members to fill the new house.
Often several members of an existing House will move into the new House to provide a core group of new members who already know how an Oxford House works. The reason that each Oxford House is independent arises from the very practical consideration that those who are closest to a situation are best able to manage it. If an Oxford House follows the democratic principles and traditions of Oxford House, Inc., it should have no difficulty in running smoothly. Those democratic principles will also enable the members of a particular Oxford House to take pride in their new found responsibility. A major part of the Oxford House philosophy is that dependency is best overcome through an acceptance of responsibility.
However, an Oxford House relies primarily upon example for assuring a high percentage of AA and/or NA attendance from its members. As a general rule formal AA or NA meetings are not held in an Oxford House member who has maintained comfortable sobriety in an Oxford House makes it a practice to attend a lot of AA and/or NA meetings on a regular basis. The Oxford House Model provides a unique and successful system of operations that differs from traditional sober living homes and halfway houses. 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.
Stay informed
The Oxford House concept is a sound one, based on sound principles, and has demonstrated its worth with an established track record. We should spread the word about Oxford House, but be wary of individuals who place their own personalities before the principles that made Oxford House work. Oxford Houses are dedicated to recovery and group support; not individual gain. Oxford House, Inc. acts as the coordinating body for providing charters for the opening of new Oxford Houses.
Support our Cause
Our officers are but trusted servants serving continuous periods of no longer than six months in any one office. The oxen sculptures were auctioned over the summer and raised £150,000 for Sobell House Hospice which provides end of life care and support to adult patients and their loved ones. The easiest way to find an Oxford House is to use our vacancy locator at oxfordvacancies.com. Once you find a house that has a vacancy, you can call the contact person to set up an interview. Alternatively, you can apply online and your information will be sent to all of the Oxford Houses in your area that have an opening. You will usually pay a nonrefundable fee, plus payment for your first two weeks, and you can move in.
Living within an Oxford House provides both the opportunity and motivation for all residents to regularly attend AA and/or NA meetings. The example of Oxford House members going to AA or NA meetings on their own is contagious. It has been the experience of Oxford House that participation in AA and NA is extremely high in an environment where one individual can see another individual, with the same disease, reaping great benefits from AA and/or NA participation. At the Oxford House World Convention held annually, Oxford Houses throughout the country vote for representatives to the World Council.
Learn what makes Oxford House stand out as a unique model for recovery housing. For example, the landlord and phone company may require a security deposit and, while furnishings are generally donated, members will often have to rent a truck in order to pick them up. There may also be a need to buy more “staples” such as flour, sugar, coffee, etc. when a House starts up. All Oxford Houses have been careful to avoid undo dependence on government or other outside funds.
Oxford House Manual: Chapter Manual: Sharing the Experience, Strength, and Hope of Oxford Houses for the Common Good
(Since 1989, many new Oxford Houses have taken advantage of state revolving loan programs. However, the members of Oxford House have found only by being active in AA and/or NA have they found comfortable, long-term sobriety — for themselves and the Oxford House in which they live. Oxford House should rely on democratically-chosen leaders, but the leaders must always be but trusted servants. By running Oxford House on a democratic basis, members of Oxford House become able to accept the authority of the group because the group is a peer group. Each member has an equal voice in the group and each has an opportunity to relearn responsibility and to accept decisions once they are made. Oxford House should remain forever non-professional, although individual members may be encouraged to utilize outside professionals whenever such utilization is likely to enhance recovery from alcoholism.
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.