I drank for a VERY long time. I went to detox to safely stop drinking. I went to rehab to get educated about obsessive drinking killing me. I joined AA to learn How to stay sober. I Live at Oxford House for a safe Place to land every day after stress full days and to be accounted for my actions. 

    I formally protest the idea of placing a trained counselor, aka house manager in Hazel run Oxford House to govern our already democratic system. That action alone would grossly remove the heart and sole and idea which "is" Oxford. You shouldn't fix something that isn't broken. The founding fathers of this great establishment modeled Oxford House on principals that are the backbone of AA. Tradition number 6 states that an A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend its name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property , and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. 

     In all honesty we don't require government assistance here. The purpose of Oxford House is to gently re-introduce its members back into a normal, productive, and responsible way of living. Most of the members of Oxford House have been over institutionalized as it is. Adding a counselor into our home would make the house feel more like an institution than a home.

   I hope this petition reaches you with the heart and soul of which it was intended.

                                                                            Timothy Leach                                                                                                                              Treasure, Hazel Run