Each member has one vote and majority rule applies except that 80% of the members must agree in accepting new persons for membership. 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 https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ the facility was about to close. While no one is ever asked to leave an Oxford House without cause, some individuals will simply outgrow living in an Oxford House.

Drug and alcohol free

• 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.
• Officers have fixed terms of office to avoid bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy.
• Other members were asked to leave half-way houses in order to make room for a recovering alcoholic or recovering drug addict who was ready to move into a half-way house.
• This principle contrasts sharply with the principle of providing the alcoholic or drug addict with assistance for a limited time period in order to make room for a more recently recovering alcoholic or drug addict.
• Nearly all members of Oxford House utilize the AA and/or NA program in order to obtain and keep a comfortable sobriety.

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. 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.

When you call a house to set up an interview you can ask them how much their EES is. Within an Oxford House group, it is not unusual to find some members who have problems which cannot be dealt with by the group. In those situations, it is not uncommon for the Oxford House members, at a meeting, to strongly suggest that a fellow member seek professional help. In those situations where a member’s behavior is disruptive to the group as a whole, the member may be required to seek such professional help or more self-help meetings in order to avoid being dismissed from Oxford House. Some operate for several years and then, because of expiration of a lease, dissatisfaction with the facilities, or simply the finding of a better location, the members of a particular House will move into a new location.

The Oxford House Model provides a community based, supportive, and sober living environment.

Our officers are but trusted servants serving continuous periods of no longer than six months in any one office. It is not easy to spread the word of a new concept or an old concept with a new twist. Propagation, or spreading the word, of the Oxford House sober house concept is given the highest priority by the members of Oxford House.

Oxford House, Inc. acts as the coordinating body for providing charters for the opening of new Oxford Houses. It also acts as the coordinating body to help individual houses to organize mutually supportive chapters. Through chapters individual houses are able to share their experience, strength and hope with each other to assure compliance with the Oxford House concept and its respected standardized system of operations.

The Oxford House Model provides community based, supportive, and sober living environment.

The third factor affecting us both in the rehabilitation facilities and the halfway houses was the realization that the duration of our stay must be limited because space must be made for others in need of help. During the last days of our drinking or using drugs, most of us ceased to function as responsible individuals. 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 halfway houses, resentments against authority were common. Oxford House has as its primary goal the provision of housing and rehabilitative support for the alcoholic or drug addict who wants to stop drinking or using and stay stopped.

Oxford House, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that employs both office and field staff to provide technical assistance to the network of houses to foster the expansion of the Oxford House Model. 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.

Modest rooms and living facilities can become luxurious suites when viewed from an environment of alcoholics working together for comfortable sobriety. 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.

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The average stay is about a year, but many residents stay three, four, or more years. Those who have benefited from an Oxford House have acquired enthusiasm for the Oxford House concept. 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. The only members who will ever be asked to leave an Oxford House are those who return to drinking, using drugs, or have disruptive behavior, including the nonpayment of rent.

• The charter of each Oxford House requires that an Oxford House meet certain minimum requirements of Oxford House, Inc.
• No member of an Oxford House is ever asked to leave without cause — a dismissal vote by the membership because of drinking, drug use, or disruptive behavior.
• It also acts as the coordinating body to help individual houses to organize mutually supportive chapters.
• Oxford House, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that employs both office and field staff to provide technical assistance to the network of houses to foster the expansion of the Oxford House Model.

Throughout its tradition, Oxford House has combined the concepts of self-support and responsibility with a fellowship having the common purpose of continued and comfortable sobriety. Oxford House must always have as its Primary goal the provision of housing and rehabilitative support for the alcoholic who wants to stop drinking and stay stopped and the drug addict who wants to stop using drugs and stay stopped. Failure to adhere to any of these three requirements would bring the entire Oxford House concept into question. Therefore, it is important that each Oxford House meet these minimum responsibilities in order for its charter to be continued. All Oxford Houses have been careful to avoid undo dependence on government or other outside funds.At the Oxford House World Convention held annually, Oxford Houses throughout the country vote for representatives to the World Council. The World Council is comprised of 12 members, 9 of which presently live in an Oxford House, 3 who are alumni.

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. You can stay as long as you like, provided you don’t use drugs and alcohol, are not disruptive, and pay your share of house expenses.

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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. Oxford Houses are democratically self-run by the members who elect officers to serve for terms of six months. House officers have term limits to avoid bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy. Every member has an equal vote regardless of how long they’ve been there. The average stay is about a year, but many members stay three, four, or more years.

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. 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.

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. One can only be dismissed from an Oxford House because of drinking, using drugs, non-payment of rent, or disruptive behavior. Every opportunity should be given to a member who needs professional help to see that he obtains it. The members of an Oxford House assume full responsibility for the operation of the House.