My name is Candi and I live in Richmond at Chimborazo. I have been in Oxford house for the last 2 years and this place has been the most magnificent thing in my recovery.Oxford Houses are democratically self-governing and self-supporting under the Oxford House system of operations. Living within Oxford house has opened to mind to different cultures as well as taught me things about my recovery. It has taught me that what works for someone may not work for me. I have learned to be able to communicate with all of my peers and take advice from them. I have learned so much in the 2 years that I have been in Oxford from learning all officer positions in the house, learning how to be able to balance and audit a checkbook, making sure that we are holding our peers accountable and responsible for their actions, learning different coping skills that work in my recovery. There have been so many positive things that have changed in my life due to me living in an Oxford house. I have been working full-time for the last 2 years, I was able to get my driver’s license back, my son is back home with me permanently and attends school as he should. It has also taught me that I need coping skills within my recovery, I attend meetings on a regular basis, have made many new sober supports and have learned boundaries and how to set them. Oxford has truly given me my life back and without Oxford I don’t know where I would be or if I would even be sober and have the things that I have today.