Oxford House

It would scare people, right? I can't go to work and talk about some of this stuff.

So I get out of that treatment center, and I move to Chapel Hill to an Oxford house.

And, you know, in that Oxford House, I was very grateful.

From what I know now about Oxford Houses, it was a very different Oxford House than most of them, right? Nothing against Oxford House.

I lived in one for almost two years.

I grew up, I learned how to be a roommate, how to be a brother, how to be a son, how to be a husband, boyfriend.

But it's something to strive for.

And if I stay active in Alcoholics Anonymous, I know it's not going to go the opposite direction.

So I'm going to actually relate this back to my job.

It was at Oxford House, which is an amazing organization.

I got the opportunity to work for them for seven and a half years.

And during that time, I started to understand, and this relates back to the question we just were talking about building a network.

Oxford House does something that is very different with their housing than I see with a lot of other housing options.

They build a family-oriented environment.

So when I was first moving into an Oxford house and starting the networking for them, someone told me that if I would stay for 16 months, I would have an 87% success rate to reaching long-term recovery.

And so I decided that I would do that.

Yeah.

Now, so if somebody's listening and they want to do an Oxford house, what should they look for in getting the right home if they're anywhere in the country listening?

Well, I would say first reach out to your local Oxford House outreach worker and find out what it is they're looking for.

Because they might be looking for different things in different areas.

They might need a women's house or a men's house.

these people allowed to live then like they need a good home in a good area i wouldn't put one next to a school or a daycare or something like that but uh you know it's living in a neighborhood and having a normal life is what helps these people And usually they're really good neighbors.

They help clean.

Like if there's a storm damage on one of the Oxford houses and the guys in the house helped clean up the neighborhood and chop up branches of the neighbors.

That's good.

What's the difference between… I get a property, I set it up, and then I subcontract to Oxford House and I'm in sober living.

Am I really in sober living or am I not? So

I think that what is the Oxford House asking for? are they asking for them to be sober and clunky if that's the case i think that it is it is a component or it has a component of sober living right um but with that with that level which is level one where essentially everybody is kind

of

They're all kind of in it together, and they're kind of keeping each other accountable with no really point of accountability that lives in from what I understand.

I got, like, eight days." And he's like, "Oh, I just, I just got out of treatment.

I'm at an Oxford House, man.

We got two beds over here.

You should come over here."

But He's, He's just waiting for us to take a step.

He's waiting for us to, to, to, to take an action, and in my experience, He runs to us with open doors and with, and with, and with, and with power, frankly, you know?

When you got to the Oxford Hou- whi- which Oxford House was it, by the way? Like, what area of town?

Richardson.

I'm very blessed to talk with Kitty Marie today.

She's, she's hailing from the Oxford House.

She is living recovery.

She, she is doing what a lot of us know has to be done, but she's not just doing it alone.

Okay.

I had started going to meetings in this area, um, when I came back, 'cause I'm about three hours away from where that facility is.

And I grabbed a sponsor up as, as quickly as I could, and she, you know, is an Oxford House alumni and, um, was telling me, you know, how to get in and stuff like that.

And so I knew it was coming to the point where I was gonna have to do something, and, uh, again, I didn't want to just like, I really didn't wanna go to rehab.

... and went through a big transition.

So I left Phoenix and moved into Oxford House, um, October of 2025.

Okay.

And I've lived there ever since.