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. The Oxford House Model provides a unique and successful system of operations that differs from traditional sober living homes and halfway houses. It is no more difficult than for an ordinary family to find a house to rent. Each Oxford House is an ordinary single-family house with two bathrooms https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and four or more bedrooms. Ideally several of the bedrooms are large enough for two twin beds so that newcomers, in particular, are able to have a roommate.
- 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.
- Today Oxford House has more than 20,000 residents at more than 3,500 homes across 47 states and several foreign countries.
- Also, Oxford House residents demonstrated higher employment rates and lower instances of illegal activities, further highlighting the effectiveness of this model in promoting recovery and reintegration into society.
- 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.
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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. 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. Mr. Molloy and the other residents devised the basic rules of self-government that have shaped Oxford House ever since.
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Too often, newly recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are faced with the necessity of living alone and of relying solely on contacts with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to stay sober. Some are able to keep from drinking in spite of the loneliness with which they were faced. The alcoholic or drug addict alone begins to compare himself to those members of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who still have family and friends. oxford house traditions Loneliness and self-pity soon lead such individuals back to alcoholic drinking or drug use.
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Oxford House has as its primary goal the provision of housing and rehabilitative support for the alcoholic and drug addict who wants to stop drinking or using drugs and stay stopped. The charter of each Oxford House requires that an Oxford House meet certain minimum 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.
If an applicant does not get voted into one house they should try another house in the area. 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. Every member has an equal vote regardless of how long they’ve been there. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home.
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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. They called their experiment in group living and joint sobriety Oxford House.
Oxford House is a self-run, self-supported recovery house program amphetamine addiction treatment for individuals recovering from a Substance Use Disorder (SUD), including an Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). The average length of jail time is about one year, with a range of few days to more than ten years. This is understandable since as many as 80% of the current jail/prison population are alcoholics and drug addicts. Oxford Houses seem to stop the recycling in and out of jail or treatment facilities.