I live in Oxford House New Perspective in Harrisonburg and been in Oxford House for 5 years and 10 months.  I stay because it works for me.  I have been a part of opening 5 recovery houses in Harrisonburg Virginia. Four for Oxford House and one for a peer run organization.  The democratic model of Oxford House is far superior in my opinion.  It has provided an environment in which I have thrived and seen dozens of men start to reach their full potential in recovery.  Our model of democratically running the house involves each member at every level enabling us to learn skills we would otherwise just have a house manager do for us.  The fact that we the members are operating the house is why it is so successful in changing peoples lives.

 

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.