Through chapters individual houses are able to share their experience, strength and hope with each other to assure compliance with the Oxford House concept and its respected standardized system of operations. Starting new Houses through the mutual assistance of existing Oxford Houses is a tradition because each House was started with the help of existing Houses and tends to pass on to others that which they received. Once more applications are received than there are beds available, the members of any Oxford House will begin to look around for another suitable house.

Oxford Houses work because they are:

The alcoholic or drug addict alone begins to compare himself to those members of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who still have family and friends. Loneliness and self-pity soon lead such individuals back to alcoholic drinking or drug use. With Oxford House there is no need for a recovering individual to live in an environment dominated by loneliness. Paul Molloy’s vision was to establish self-supporting, self-governed homes for recovering alcoholics and addicts across America. The article highlights the success of these houses, where recovering individuals work together, abide by simple rules, and maintain a drug-free environment.

Oxford House Manual: Chapter Manual: Sharing the Experience, Strength, and Hope of Oxford Houses for the Common Good

One of the greatest threats to the sobriety of a recovering alcoholic or drug addict is loneliness. At a time when we acquired a serious desire to stop drinking or using drugs, many of us had lost our families and friends because of our alcoholism and/or drug addiction. Too often, newly recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are faced with the necessity of living alone and of relying solely on contacts with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to stay sober. Some are able to keep from drinking in spite of the loneliness with which they were faced.

• Many of us soon learned, however, that living alone or living among our old drinking companions made it more difficult to practice the principles necessary for continued sobriety.
• A long-running study by Chicago’s DePaul University shows that people completing one year of residency maintain a sobriety rate as high as 80 percent.
• The opportunity for a house to democratically function requires periodic meetings within the house — at least once a week.
• Through chapters individual houses are able to share their experience, strength and hope with each other to assure compliance with the Oxford House concept and its respected standardized system of operations.

Drug and alcohol free

• Other Houses often help that type of move as well as the brand new House.
• Many individuals in society are able to abide by the strict letter of any rule, regulation , or law.
• Often several members of an existing House will move into the new House to provide a core group of new members who already know how an Oxford House works.
• If you are not selected, you should try another house that has an opening.
• One of the greatest threats to the sobriety of a recovering alcoholic or drug addict is loneliness.
• As a general rule formal AA or NA meetings are not held in an Oxford House member who has maintained comfortable sobriety in an Oxford House makes it a practice to attend a lot of AA and/or NA meetings on a regular basis.

There are over 3500 self-sustaining Oxford Houses in the United States and more than 24,000 individuals in recovery living in these houses at any one time during the year. The Oxford House Model is shared, studied, and growing because it works. It continues to stand the test of time as a leading model in sober living. Oxford Houses are democratically self-run by the members who elect officers to serve for terms of six months. House officers have term limits to avoid Alcoholics Anonymous bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy.

Neither can an Oxford House function if some do not pay their fair share of the costs. The Oxford House Model provides a unique and successful system of operations that differs from traditional sober living homes and halfway houses. An underlying principle of Oxford House is that each individual member has the ability to be responsible for himself. Living within an Oxford House provides both the opportunity and motivation for all residents to regularly attend AA and/or NA meetings. The example of Oxford House members going to AA or NA meetings on their own oxford house traditions is contagious. Oxford Houses are democratically self-run by the residents who elect officers to serve for terms of six months.