I have lived in multiple oxford houses in the Richmond, Virginia area. Oxford Houses are democratically self-governing and self-supporting under the Oxford House system of operations. 

Living in Oxford Houses gave me more accountability and self-awareness as well as support and help with building a stronger foundation for my recovery. I came to Virginia not knowing about recovery or even being able to be around other females. Living in Oxford Houses allowed me the opportunity and the members helped me change my way of thinking and helped with removing 40 years of negative thinking. I am now almost 5 years clean and have been self-suffecient and thanks to the Oxfords Houses I have become a TikTok live creater with my platform based on recovery and use a lot of what I was taught as a house officer as well as a chair officer within the operations systems. Thanks to Oxford Houses of VA I have a purpose in life and was given an opportunity to use skills I went to school for but wasnt able to use. They helped me realize my voice and encourage me as well as others to speak our truths and be proud of who we are today. 

I support rules that keep people safe, but rules that require staff 24/7 and required to marked as a commercial business would hurt Oxford Houses of VA. The Oxford Houses of Va has been shown in scientific research that their model gets the best results. Please reconsider this and change the rule and clarify if house members would be considered the operators.