I am an Oxford House resident and an active member of the Oxford House community in Virginia. It is difficult to put into words everything Oxford House has done for me because it has given me far more than a safe place to live. It gave me a place to rebuild my life while surrounded by people who understood recovery because they were living it alongside me.

When I walked through the doors of Oxford House, I was broken, defeated, and struggling with very little self-esteem or confidence. I was ashamed of where my addiction and my decisions had led me.

Oxford House did not rebuild my life for me. It gave me the support, accountability, responsibility, and opportunity to learn how to rebuild it myself.

The self-governing model has been a critical part of that transformation. There is no staff member running our home or making our decisions for us. We elect our officers, manage our finances, resolve conflicts, hold one another accountable, and make decisions democratically. Through that process, I learned how to communicate, accept responsibility, solve problems, lead others, and trust my own voice again.

I have now held the same job longer than I ever had before, received promotions, raises and training responsibilities, returned to college, and worked hard enough to get a car for myself. These may seem like ordinary accomplishments to some, but to me they represent the stable, meaningful life I once struggled to imagine for myself.

Some of the greatest things Oxford House has given me, however, cannot be measured by a job title, education, car, or leadership position. They are the relationships I have built.

Throughout the Oxford House network, I have developed friendships and bonds with people who have celebrated my successes, challenged me when I needed it, believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself, and stood beside me through difficult moments. They have become my family.

That is why peer support and self-governance matter so deeply to me. We are not simply people occupying rooms in the same building. We are people in recovery choosing to build something together. We hold each other accountable because we care what happens to one another, and when someone new walks through our door feeling broken, scared, or defeated, there are people on the other side who understand exactly what that feels like. The self-governing model did not just give me a voice in how my house operates. It helped me find my voice in my own life.

Today, I believe in myself. I am someone who wants to give back to my community and help others discover that recovery and a different life are possible.

That transformation did not happen because someone was paid to manage me. It happened because I was given responsibility. I was expected to participate, contribute, make decisions, solve problems, and become part of something bigger than myself.

I fully support reasonable standards that protect people living in recovery residences. People in recovery deserve safe housing, accountability, and protection from exploitation. But those standards must also recognize that not every recovery residence operates the same way.

An Oxford House is not a traditional commercially operated, staffed recovery residence, and it should not be forced to become one in order to survive.

I respectfully ask DBHDS to preserve the self-governing Oxford House model when reviewing these proposed regulations. Requirements written with paid staff or traditional operators in mind should allow elected Oxford House officers and members to fulfill those responsibilities within our democratic structure. The regulations should also clearly define how the term “operator” applies to a self-governed Oxford House.

Please protect residents without unintentionally eliminating the very model that has helped people like me rebuild their lives.

There are 186 Oxford Houses in Virginia, but that number does not tell the whole story. Behind every Oxford House door are real people trying to build a different life—people who may arrive believing addiction has taken everything from them and who need not only a safe place to recover, but an opportunity to discover that they are still capable of responsibility, leadership, friendship and a meaningful future.

Oxford House gave me that opportunity. I walked through its doors feeling broken and defeated by the person I had become. Today, I am proud of the person I am becoming, and I am able to turn around and help the next person who walks through that same door.

Please do not take away the foundation that helped make that transformation possible—not only for me, but for the people who will come after me looking for the same hope I found.

Please allow Oxford House to continue being what made it work for me in the first place: people in recovery living together, supporting one another, governing their own home, holding each other accountable, and proving every day that recovery is possible.