I lived in an Oxford House in Lynchburg, VA after completing 3.5, 3.1, and 2.5 levels of addiction treatment care. Oxford Houses are democratically self-governing and self-supporting under the Oxford House system of operations.

Without Oxford house, I would not have had an option for a recovery home after rehab without outside oversight as a bridge between treatment and living independently. While in Oxford, I was given the opportunity to take part in Oxford service positions including chore coordinator and house president, learn to pay bills independently, and how to coexist with other folks in recovery who held me accountable for my actions. Without that foundation, I probably would not be clean today.

I will be 3 years clean on November 7 of this year. I live independently, actively participate in and chair NA meetings, hold a treasurer position in my home group, and do service for the Appalachian Area of Narcotics Anonymous by taking meetings into treatment centers with the Hospitals and Institutions Committee. I have worked in various treatment centers professionally including Anderson Treatment (The Twelve) and Mainspring Recovery. I have volunteered with youth working to prevent addiction through the Up Foundation and am now working as a Peer Recovery Specialist at Horizon Behavioral Health with the TREE Grant, providing PRS services to youth ages 12-25. 

None of this would have been possible without Oxford House. Living there empowered me to become a functioning member of society again, to rebuild relationships with my family, and to help others in recovery. 

I support rules that keep people safe, but rules that require staff or assume every recovery home is a commercial business would keep Oxford Houses from operating in Virginia, even though research shows our model gets the best results. Oxford Houses currently operate in 46 states, with over 3500 self-run recovery homes serving over 20.000 residents in recovery. Please change those rules, and please clarify whether house members are considered the operator.