To whom it may concern,

    I live in Oxford House - Aayla in Lynchburg. Oxford Houses are democratically self-governing and self-supporting under the Oxford House system of operations. 

    On a personal note, Oxford House has been a big part of saving my life. It gave me a place of refuge, a place of peace, and a place of accountability. More importantly, it allowed me to grow into my recovery. I am now a Peer Recovery Support specialist and am actively helping others to maintain a life of sobriety and recovery. Oxford House has been and is an integral part of not only my recovery, but of countless others as well.

I support rules that keep people safe, but rules that require staff or assume every home is a commercial business would keep Oxford Houses from operating in Virginia, even though research shows our model gets the best results. Please change those rules, and please clarify whether house members are considered the operator.