Hello, My name is Brandon Moody. I have been a resident at Oxford House Neptune, located in Virginia Beach, Va since June of 2025. I currently have just under 2 years clean from all mind & mood altering substances. I owe it all to my Oxford house.  It o my did the other guys in my house make me feel welcome and like i was a part of something, with their help I’ve been able to achieve the longest pint of sobriety since I started using drugs at the age of 13. Not only was the democratic, peer run, model of Oxford house able to do for me what countless other rehabs, treatment centers, and recovery houses failed to. Oxford House gave me a sense of purpose, and community. The accountability factor in my house has helped me get through thoughts of using NUMEROUS times! The reason being that if I use and get expelled from my house, I’d be letting down not only myself, but my oxford friends/family that I’ve bonded with. In the past the only person I would be letting down if I used was my self. A paid staff member isn’t as understanding or invested in seeing/helping someone recover from addiction as someone who’s climbed from that bottomless pit and has the experience to help someone that’s new in recovery.  If this amendment passes the 186 Oxford houses in Virginia  will no longer be able to operate, dues to rules that don’t even apply to us. We are not a commercial business. We are not focused of recovery for profit, our focus is the “Self Run, Self Governing, Recovery House.” Model that is proven more effective than any other recovery residence model in existence. 

Thank you for your time.