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Oxford Houses are self-run, self-supported homes for individuals in recovery from a Substance Use Disorder.
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The Oxford House Model provides a community based, supportive, and sober living environment.
The Oxford House Model
What is an Oxford House?
In its simplest form, an Oxford House is a shared residence where people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction can live together and support each other in a drug and alcohol-free environment.
There is no house manager or outside authority. Oxford House members share the house responsibilities.
An Oxford House member can stay as long as they like, provided they stay drug and alcohol free, are not disruptive, and pay their share of house expenses.
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Oxford House, Inc.
What is Oxford House, Inc.?
Oxford House, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that employs office and field staff.
Oxford House, Inc. issues charters to newly formed Oxford Houses.
Oxford House, Inc. provides technical assistance to foster the expansion of the Oxford House Model.
Find AN OXFORD HOUSE TODAY
Here's how to apply.
Find a house
Use our Vacancy Locator to find houses near you that have an opening.
Call the contact person for each house you're interested in to set up an interview.
Alternatively, if you'd like to send your application to all houses near you that have an opening, you can Apply Online.
Interview
The houses you're interested in will invite you to interview.
You'll get to talk to the house members to see if the house is a good fit for you.
Tip: Show sincerity about recovery, emphasize regular attendance at meetings, and explain how you will be able to pay your share of expenses.
Acceptance
If a house votes to accept you, you can tell them whether or not you accept the invitation to move in.
Sometimes several individuals will apply to fill one vacancy.
If you are not selected, you should try another house that has an opening. It is not unusual that an individual who gets rejected at one house applies at another house with an opening and gets accepted.
Move in
Congratulations!
You will usually pay a nonrefundable fee, plus payment for your first two weeks, and you can move in.
You can stay as long as you like, provided you don't use drugs and alcohol, are not disruptive, and pay your share of house expenses.
What makes it an oxford house?
Oxford Houses work because they are:
Long-term living solutions
There’s no time limit on how long a member can live in an Oxford House. The average stay is about a year, but many members stay three, four, or more years. There is no pressure on anyone in good standing to leave.
Democratically self-run
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 bossism or corruption of egalitarian democracy. Every member has an equal vote regardless of how long they’ve been there.
Self-supporting
Each member pays EES (Equal Expense Share) which includes the total amount of rent due for the month, utilities and basic staples for the house. Every member pays the same amount.
100% Drug and alcohol free
Each house adheres to the absolute requirement that any member who returns to using alcohol or drugs must be immediately expelled.
Our impact
The Oxford House Model is
time-tested and evidence-based.
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.
There have been over 3,400 Oxford Houses
across 30 years and
47 cities nation-wide so far
helping millions of people in recovery living
achieve and maintain unmatched results & success
DePaul University's Center for Community Research, led by Dr. Leonard A. Jason, has been involved in a research study of Oxford House since 1988.
"We found that participants assigned to a communal living Oxford House compared to usual care condition had significantly less substance use and criminal involvement and, significantly better employment outcomes."
"After tracking each group for 2 years, those in the Oxford House condition compared to the usual care condition had lower substance use (31.3% vs. 64.8%),higher monthly income ($989.40 vs. $440.00), and lower incarceration rates (3% vs. 9%)."
Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA
U.S. Surgeon General (2016) spotlight on opioids: Facing Addiction in America
"A leading example of recovery-supportive housing is Oxford House, which are peer-run, self-sustaining, substance-free residences that host six or more recovering individuals per house and require that all members maintain abstinence."
There are over 3,500 Oxford Houses across the United States
All are self-governed according to the same system of operations.
Check out our resources
Find what you need
Become a Member
Find a house, fill out the application, and call a house to schedule an interview.
Become a Landlord
Rent your home as an Oxford House and become a vital part in our mission to save lives.
Alumni Registration
Sign up to join the national Alumni association and get connected with other Alumni in your area.
Annual Report
Oxford House, Inc. remains transparent with spending and is a reputable 501c3 nonprofit.
Manuals & Forms
View and download the latest House and Chapter Manuals, along with other forms used to conduct weekly house meetings.
Frequently asked questions
The Oxford House Model provides a unique and successful system of operations that differs from traditional sober living homes and halfway houses.
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Our stories
Member stories explain it best
After a few months in the Northampton House, I decided to devote my life to helping other addicts and alcoholics to find what I had found – a housing situation that provided support for recovery while also teaching the residents how to live responsibly.
James M.
Things that I have learned through AA and Oxford House are an attitude of gratitude, acceptance, love, forgiveness, compassion, and the willingness to take that next step. With each of these comes action. Oxford House gave me the opportunity to practice the principles and action.
Myrna B.
I was accepted. I just had to follow the rules, get along with everyone, and work on my recovery. I’ve been living at Brockman House for almost 4 years now. It took me awhile to get used to being with a group of guys like myself. But together we have learned to manage and maintain the house and interact as a family.
Stan T.
I have tried to give back to Oxford House all that I can. I believe if I can help someone, somewhere, find clean and sober living, and then be able to be there for support to share the experience, strength, and hope with, it’s a win-win situation no matter what!
Mike Z.
A tribute to our late co-founder and CEO, Paul Molloy
In the early 1970s, J. Paul Molloy was a young lawyer on Capitol Hill who had a key role in drafting legislation that created Amtrak and other federal programs. He was also an alcoholic whose drinking would eventually cost him his job, his family and his home.
For a couple of months in 1975, he found himself living on the streets and begging strangers for money before he entered a rehabilitation program. He moved to a county-run halfway house in Silver Spring, MD, to recover but soon learned that the facility was about to close.
Instead of being left to their own fates, Mr. Molloy and other residents decided to take over the house themselves, paying the expenses and utilities, cooking the meals and keeping watch over one another’s path to recovery.
They called their experiment in group living and joint sobriety Oxford House. It was the first step in a nationwide movement, now almost 50 years old, that has been credited with helping thousands of people overcome addiction and lead productive lives.
Something about the simplicity of the program seemed to work. Democratically run, self-supporting houses where anyone that uses drugs or alcohol is expelled.
Mr. Molloy and the other residents devised the basic rules of self-government that have shaped Oxford House ever since. First, all decisions would be made democratically, with a group vote. Second, every resident would contribute equally to the expenses and household duties. And, most important, anyone using drugs or alcohol would be expelled.
Another key element of the plan was that there was no deadline for moving out: People could live in an Oxford House as long as they wanted, if they followed the rules.
In the 1980s, the Oxford House idea expanded to other states. It received a boost after Mr. Molloy successfully lobbied for passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which established a fund to help provide start-up loans for groups opening residential recovery locations like those of Oxford House.
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.
When some communities tried to keep Oxford House from renting in their neighborhoods, Mr. Molloy and his lawyers went to court. Oxford House won a U.S. Supreme Court victory in 1995 against the city of Edmonds, Wash., on grounds that the city’s efforts to block the group home violated provisions of the Fair Housing Act.
Today Oxford House has more than 20,000 residents at more than 3,500 homes across 47 states and several foreign countries. Hundreds of thousands of people have been through the program.
* Excerpted from The Washington Post article dated June 16, 2022
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