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 https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/dealing-with-ptsd-alcohol-blackouts-and-memory-loss/ or other outside funds.

Democratically self-run

When they find such a house they will bring it 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 oxford house traditions is independent arises from the very practical consideration that those who are closest to a situation are best able to manage it.

Oxford House Manual: Chapter Manual: Sharing the Experience, Strength, and Hope of Oxford Houses for the Common Good

Find documents, templates, and everything residents need while living at an Oxford House. 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.

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

Every Oxford House member attributes his sobriety to Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics Anonymous. Each Oxford House member, as an individual, considers himself a member of AA and/or NA. Each Oxford House should be autonomous except in matters affecting other houses or Oxford House, Inc., as a whole. The Board of Directors maintains the sole right to Charter, and to revoke the Charter of, individual Oxford Houses and exercises authority over the policies and officers of Oxford House, Inc. In this way, Oxford House, Inc. remains responsive to the needs of the population it serves. Three or more Oxford Houses within a 100 mile radius comprise an Oxford House Chapter.

• If a house votes to accept you, you can tell them whether or not you accept the invitation to move in.
• In their enthusiasm, they have been anxious to share Oxford House with any recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who want to establish an Oxford House in their community.
• When we stopped drinking, we began to realize that in order to stay stopped, our lives would need to change.
• A member’s tenure is absolutely secure in an Oxford House as long as he does not drink or use drugs and keeps his rent up to date and is not disruptive.

This monthly or weekly amount varies from state to state and house to house and can range anywhere from $125 a week to $250 a week. When you call a house to set up an interview you can ask them how much their EES is. 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.

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. While no one is ever asked to leave an Oxford House without cause, some individuals will simply outgrow living in an Oxford House. They will return to their families; they may start new families; they may simply move into another living situation. 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.

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. Oxford House gave me the opportunity to practice the principles and action. Generally an individual comes into an Oxford House following a 28-day rehabilitation program or at least a 5 to 10 day detoxification program. The average stay is about a year, but many members stay three, four, or more years.

Followed up on each house application and tracked down the individuals who had moved out. 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. View and download the latest House and Chapter Manuals, along with other forms used to conduct weekly house meetings. Rent your home as an Oxford House and become a vital part in our mission to save lives. Any member who drinks alcohol or uses drugs will be immediately expelled. 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.

• Failure to adhere to any of these three requirements would bring the entire Oxford House concept into question.
• It is inconsistent with the Oxford House system of democratic rule to have a professional manager of Oxford House.
• When we stopped drinking or using drugs, we began to realize just how dependent we had become.
• It also acts as the coordinating body to help individual houses to organize mutually supportive chapters.

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 alcoholism treatment county-run halfway house in Silver Spring, MD, to recover but soon learned that the facility was about to close. 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.

Oxford Houses of South Carolina

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 rely on democratically chosen leaders, but the leaders must always be but trusted servants. To discourage an excessive dependence on leaders, it is a principle of Oxford House that no member should serve in the same office for a continuous period of longer than six months. In 1975, Montgomery County, Maryland decided to close a traditional halfway house because of a lack of funds.