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

Peer support has supported my recovery by having people I have gotten to know and trust to help keep me clean. I have a sense of family and comradeship that gets me through the tough times. 

Running the house has given me a sense of responsibility and trust.

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.