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. Any recovering alcoholic or drug addict can apply to get into any Oxford House by filling out an application and being interviewed by the existing members of the House. The application is then considered by the membership of the House and if there is a vacancy and if 80% of the members approve, the applicant is accepted and moves in.

Oxford House Forms

Such meetings should be used to resolve any operational or personality problems facing the house. Three or more Oxford Houses within a 100 mile radius comprise an Oxford House Chapter. A representative of each House in the Chapter meets with the others on a monthly basis, to exchange information, to seek resolution of problems in a particular House, and to express that Chapter’s vote on larger issues.

• Electing members to staggered three-year terms of office assures continuity of the 12-member World Council.
• 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.
• It is not unusual that an individual who gets rejected at one house applies at another house with an opening and gets accepted.
• During early recovery for alcoholism and drug addiction, some members had to leave an institution in order to make room for an alcoholic or drug addict just beginning the recovery process.

Q. What is the success rate for Oxford House residents?

Oxford Houses flourish in metropolitan areas such as New York City and Washington D.C. And thrive in such diverse communities as Hawaii, Washington State, Canada and Australia; but they all abide by the basic criteria. Each House represents a remarkably effective and low cost method of preventing relapse.

How do neighbors feel about Oxford Houses?

• 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.
• The application is then considered by the membership of the House and if there is a vacancy and if 80% of the members approve, the applicant is accepted and moves in.
• The line between an Oxford House of recovering alcoholics or drug addicts and an Oxford House of active alcoholics or drug addicts is a thin one.

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. Paul Molloy’s vision was to establish self-supporting, self-governed homes for recovering alcoholics and addicts across America. The article highlights the success of these houses, where recovering individuals work together, abide by simple rules, and oxford sober living maintain a drug-free environment.

Q. Can both men and women live in the same Oxford House?

Learn what makes Oxford House stand out as a unique model for recovery housing. 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. 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 Sobriety to manage it.

• Paul Molloy’s vision was to establish self-supporting, self-governed homes for recovering alcoholics and addicts across America.
• In both cases, financial assistance is in the form of a loan having a pay back schedule, not to exceed one year, defined up front.
• Failure to adhere to any of these three requirements would bring the entire Oxford House concept into question.
• House officers have term limits to avoid bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy.

Each member has one vote and majority rule applies except that 80% of the members must agree in accepting new persons for membership. Oxford House, Inc. is a separate nonprofit organization that provides support and training to the network of houses to help expand the Oxford House Model. The Model encourages the development of leadership skills and self-efficacy. Slowly but surely, members learn or relearn values and responsible behavior. In 1975, Montgomery County, Maryland decided to close a traditional halfway house because of a lack of funds. However, the men living in that halfway house, including Oxford House’s founder Paul Molloy, were not ready to leave.

Other Ways to Support Oxford House

During the early 1990s dozens of communities sought to close Oxford Houses located in good neighborhoods because local zoning ordinances restricted the number of unrelated individuals that could live together in a single-family home. They called their experiment in group living and joint sobriety Oxford House. It was the first step in a nationwide movement, now almost 50 years old, that has been credited with helping thousands of people overcome addiction and lead productive lives. 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.

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. 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.

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 part a resentment of authority. 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. Oxford House grew out of the need for many of us to begin a new life without fear of backsliding because of loneliness or renewed dependency on former drinking companions.