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Sunday, August 17, 2014
A Benefit to Help Fight Addiction![]()
12pm to 8pm - Free Event!
Donations will be accepted at the gate
and at www.musicfest2014.org
On the Campus of Christian Life Center
3100 Galloway Rd
Bensalem, PA 19020
Our 2nd annual outdoor Conquering Grounds Music Fest to benefit our CLPRM Scholarship Fund, helping those struggling with addiction and coming out of prison.
This rain or shine event features...
9 Christian Artists/Bands
3 dynamic speakers AND 3 testimonies!
Lots of great food, vendors, prayer & fellowship
Children's Play Area - Moonbounce, Playground, Face Painting ect..
...all for a fantastic cause and all for F-R-E-E! Yep, you read that right...FREE!!! Jesus paid the price!
We need YOUR support and will be taking donations at the gate!!
Don't miss this amazing Life Changing Event!
Also, visit www.musicfest2014.org to get ALL the details and even make a donation!
Invite your friends and family! SEE YOU there!
Don't forget your Lawn Chairs or Blankets!!
Paul Paoli Band
Never Forsaken
Dave Pettigrew
And many others!
Friday, August 15, 2014
August 15 Chp 34 v 4 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS
I prayed to the Lord , and He answered me . He freed me from all my fears .
STEP 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity .
It is true ! I celebrated fourteen years sober this past June . To deal with my fear , I used until I was brave ,the problem with that was my life became more fearful because of the consequences of my addictions. Plus addiction gave me a false perception of reality which in turn created a delusional sense of security .
PRAYER WORKS ! ADDICTION DOSEN 'T !
John 14 : 27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Conquering Grounds Music Fest 2014 ~ September 13th ~ Please Help and Support
Hello Friends!
Hope you all are doing well and having a great summer! I wanted to spread the Word and ask you to save the date for theConquering Grounds Music Fest 2014. Our 2nd annual event is being held September 13th from 12noon to 8PM on the grounds of Christian Life Center in Bensalem, PA. This year the Music Fest is a FREE event with all proceeds going to help fight the Epidemic of Addiction. The Flyer for the event is below….
We are putting together a “Memory and Reflection” Tent for those who have lost someone they love to addiction. Our tent theme is White, Gold and Purple.
Do any of you have an outdoor tent/canopy that I can borrow for the day? We really need a tent(s) or canopy with a white top/sides. If not, do you know of anyone that may have one or two tents they can lend?
It would be greatly appreciated and well taken care of.
If any of you know anyone that would like to be remembered or know of a family who has lost someone to any form of addiction, please let me know. We are reaching out to families as we believe their loved ones deserve to be remembered. There is still time to honor them and have their names recorded and remembered in our Book of Memories.
I’m attaching a consent form to forward if you know of anyone who may be interested in participating. Please put them in touch with Nancy Lion directly -
Remember! It’s Free to attend this year’s Music Fest 2014! This year promises to be a great event for everyone! We have Awesome Bands performing, Special Speakers, Testimonies and Worship,
Prayer Tent, Resource Tables and Vendors, Tons of Food and an expanded kids area with face painting, arts and crafts, a puppet show, moonbounce and kids playground!
Please spread the word! Bring your families out! We Need your support! It’s for a great cause…You never know when Addiction can strike someone you Love!
If you can’t make it, please consider making a tax deductible donation so that our Ministry can continue to help families and those struggling with addiction through our many resources, programs and scholarships.
Donations can be made by going directly to www.musicfest2014.org or visit our Facebook Page - Conquering Grounds Music Fest 2014 and “ LIKE” and “JOIN” the page! You can also find us on YouTube.
There are a few Sponsor packages available which start at only $100.00! We are still in need of Volunteers the day of the event. If anyone can help out that day, please contact Nancy ASAP at 215 694 6014
Along with Bob Sofronski, our Director of Christian Life Prison and Recovery Ministry and on behalf of the Board at CLPRM
I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of you for your support and commitment and I ask God to Bless you and your Families!
Nancy Lion
Secretary to CLPRM
Bob Sofronski, Executive Director
Christian Life Prison and Recovery Ministries, Inc.
Po Box 1624
Southampton, PA 18966
Robin Williams’ Death Highlights Increasing Suicide Rate Among Adults 45 to 64
August 13th, 2014/
U.S. health officials say Robin Williams’ death highlights the increasing rate of suicide among American adults ages 45 to 64, The Wall Street Journal reports. Williams, 63, died in an apparent suicide on Monday.
Suicide risk increases in people who are struggling with drug and alcohol use and depression. Williams had dealt with all of these, according to The New York Times. After a period of cocaine use early in his career, Williams quit in the mid-80s. He sought treatment for alcohol abuse in 2006, and had recently been treated for severe depression.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates for adults ages 45 to 64 increased 40 percent from 1999 to 2011. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, Vice President of Research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, says the suicide rate for people in middle age to late middle age is higher than any other group. “We don’t hear about middle-age or older people who kill themselves unless they’re a star like Robin Williams,” she said. “Because it’s so shocking when a younger person dies, there’s a tendency of re-reporting and romanticizing.”
Possible reasons for the increased suicide rate in this age group could include economic pressures, health problems and the increased use and abuse of prescription drugs, Julie Phillips, Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, told the newspaper. She noted social isolation may also play a role.
Efforts to prevent suicide have largely focused on young people and the elderly, according to Alex Crosby of the CDC. “Middle-aged adults got kind of left out in the thinking of where to focus to resources for suicide prevention,” he said. “It’s important for us to examine more closely and put more resources into that population.”
Treating College Students for Opioid Dependence
/BY CELIA VIMONT
August 13th, 2014/
College students who are dependent on prescription painkillers can be successfully treated with buprenorphine/naloxone or sustained-release naltrexone, according to experts.
Some college students misuse their own prescriptions, while others go “doctor shopping” to obtain multiple prescriptions, obtain prescription drugs from friends or buy them from dealers, according to Staff Psychiatrist Joshua Hersh, MD of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “They may be mixing drugs in a dangerous combination, or using higher doses of their own medication, which facilitates addiction,” he says.
When Dr. Hersh treats students for prescription drug abuse, he has them sign a release form that allows him to speak with their treating doctor and pharmacist. “If there is an issue with misusing a drug, I can communicate with their treatment providers about concerns I have,” he says. He also checks the Ohio prescription drug monitoring database, to see where students are getting their medication. If the student is from out of state, he can’t always check. Ohio’s database works in conjunction with some states, but not others.
He tries to treat students on an outpatient basis whenever possible. “If they need inpatient care, it costs more, and they have to withdraw from school, so all the work they have done up until that point in the semester is gone. They have to retake the classes when they return,” Dr. Hersh says. Once they return to campus, they often return to the same friends who used drugs with them, making recovery difficult.
Outpatient treatment, while allowing students to stay in school, keeps them in the same environment that got them into trouble in the first place. “They’re around the same people they were using with, so they have to learn to create a new environment, with new housing and friends,” Hersh notes.
At Miami University, buprenorphine/naloxone (sold as Suboxone) has been administered to students by a school nurse to prevent diversion, Dr. Hersh says. The medication is infused into strips that are placed under the tongue.
A study published in 2012 by researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia found opioid-dependent university students can be safely and effectively treated with buprenorphine in a university counseling center. The students were being treated for heroin or prescription opioid use. Lead researcher Peter DeMaria, Jr., MD, noted some students continue to use marijuana while being treated, which presents a challenge.
Since college students are young, those who have become addicted to opioids usually have not been using them for a long time, says Dr. DeMaria, Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Temple University School of Medicine. “The good news is we can intervene early in their addiction. The challenge is their level of denial is higher, and their willingness to connect with services is less,” he says. “Sometimes they’ll use buprenorphine for awhile and they think the problem is cured, and they don’t want to continue treatment. They don’t want to go to counseling or 12-step meetings.”
Dr. Hersh prefers treating students with sustained-release naltrexone (Vivitrol), which is given as a once-monthly shot. “If we can put students on sustained-release naltrexone, we don’t have to worry about diversion and having to taper them off. With naltrexone, you can just stop treatment when the student is ready.”
Naltrexone works by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, without activating them, therefore blocking the effects of opioids. Buprenorphine partially blocks the effects of opioids, so that they produce less of an effect than a full opioid when they attach to an opioid receptor. When a person takes a partial opioid such as buprenorphine, they may feel a very slight pleasurable sensation, but most people say they just feel normal or more energized.
College students being treated for opioid dependence on campus can’t completely change the people they are exposed to, so they are at risk of falling back into harmful drug use patterns, Dr. Hersh notes. “When they’re on naltrexone, they know they can’t get high, since the drug blocks opiate receptors. It’s like a shield around them that prevents them from engaging in opiate abuse.” A disadvantage to naltrexone, he pointed out, is a person using the drug has to detox from opioids about a week before they can start treatment.
Not all college counseling centers provide opioid addiction treatment, but they can refer students to doctors in the area who can help them, says Dr. Hersh. He urges all colleges to provide their safety officers with naloxone nasal spray, known as Narcan, to reverse overdoses of opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin. “It’s important for college campuses to have as prescription drug abuse becomes more prevalent,” he says.
26.6 Percent of People Living on the Street Report Chronic Substance Abuse
August 13th, 2014/
A survey of the U.S. homeless population indicates 26.6 percent of people living on the street report chronic substance abuse, according to The Washington Post.
The findings come from a 2013 survey of about 600,000 homeless people. Two-thirds were in shelters or temporary housing, and one-third were living on the street, the article notes. The survey found 19.3 percent of people living in shelters reported chronic substance abuse.
The 100,000 Homes Campaign, a group that aims to permanently house 100,000 chronically homeless people, conducted interviews among the unsheltered homeless. They found more than 60 percent of homeless men and women living on the street have struggled with some form of substance abuse in their lives.
The group is focused on helping the chronically homeless—people with mental health problems, addiction or other disabilities who have been homeless for more than one year, or who have been homeless at least four times in the past three years. About one-third of the homeless living on the street are considered chronically homeless.
Many programs aimed at helping chronically homeless people with addiction problems first put them in temporary housing. These programs expect homeless people to demonstrate their substance abuse problems are under control before they can move on to living independently, according to the article. Often, people in the program are not able to comply with the requirement that they be totally abstinent. The requirement scares away many from participating in the first place, the newspaper notes.
A study published in 2012 found heavy drinkers who were formerly homeless, and are provided with housing, cut down on their drinking if they are allowed access to alcohol. The study followed participants in a program call Housing First, which was developed by a housing agency in Seattle. The program provides housing to chronically homeless people, and does not require that they stop drinking in order to obtain housing.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
August 13 Chp 25 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS
Lead me by your truth and teach me , for you are the God who saves me . All day long I put my hope in you .
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God .
NO GOD ! NO PEACE !
KNOW GOD ! KNOW PEACE !
Yes it is that simple ! Surrender ! Follow the 12 Steps pray and read instructions in Gods Big Book ( Bible)
By Joseph Dickerson
By Joseph Dickerson
Rob's Highs and Lowes
Rob Lowe has overcome addictions to sex and alcohol. He talks about how he has gone on to enjoy a successful career post recovery.
Shutterstock
As a teenager, Rob Lowe moved from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Malibu for high school – and kick started his movie career. The young, up-and-coming actor found himself moving in the right circles, and in no time his face was plastered all over the walls of teenage girl bedrooms around the world.
Lowe admits that early on in his career, he wasn't planning ahead. Luckily for him, unlike many of his Brat Pack contemporaries, he has managed to retain both his looks and his fame, and overcome the personal troubles which so often put him square and center in the media spotlight.
“Had I known in the eighties teen idol phase that I would be 50-years-old and enjoying this kind of diversity in my career, I would have been really happy," Lowe says. "But the other thing you learn is that you never know when the phone is going to ring, and if it's going to be something really special."
Rather than sitting around waiting for that call, Lowe has flexed his muscles outside of acting.
"I’ve written two books,” he says. “You've got to find new stuff [to do]. People get lazy and they get scared. More than anything they get scared.”
'Scared' is an emotion Lowe has been very familiar with in the past. Famously stating that “sobriety saved my life,” Lowe turned away from his self-confessed “unlife” in his twenties and stopped drinking entirely.
Post rehab and recovery, Lowe resurrected his acting career with The West Wing, followed byBrothers & Sisters. Now, he says that after years of playing parts “that anyone can play,” he’s finding his niche.
“I have a friend who is very successful in business, and his motto is 'Don't do what you can do. Do what only you can do.' First of all, you have to know what your specific, unique gift is and then you do that... every actor does that but every once in a while an actor plays a part that only they can play.
"Those are the parts that you want to look for,” he says. “I like to think that nobody could have doneBehind the Candelabra but me, nobody could have done JFK but me; nobody could have done Sex Tape but me.”
And when it comes to his TV roles?
“Sam Seaborn in West Wing; that's a part where I feel that whilst anybody else would have done it, it would have been markedly different. Not every part is going to be that way, and that is fine. But that's what I would love to try to continue.”
Lowe’s latest big screen offering is the rom-com Sex Tape, also starring Jason Segal and Cameron Diaz. The film follows a married couple searching to spice up their lives, who wake up to find that the wild sex tape they made the night before has vanished. It's somewhat familiar territory for Lowe - in 1988 his own sex tape threatened to blow up his career when footage was circulated of him having sex with two girls, one of them only 16 years old.
Today, the actor flashes us a smile, saying that when he was offered a role in Sex Tape, his first thought was, “I can’t believe it’s taken this long!” He’s clearly made amends with his past.
“Comedies always need to be provocative and catch your attention in a way that dramas don't have to," he explains. "A movie called Sex Tape with a big legit mainstream movie star in it, Cameron Diaz: that's what we are talking about. When I heard Cameron was doing it I thought, 'I want to be in this.' And for anyone who remembers or cares [about the scandal], it will be a really cool wink to that.”
Back in the 80s, the sex tape scandal was Lowe’s much-needed trigger to sober up. “It was the beginning of it all,” he recalls, adding that “it took about a year from that to go - 'maybe you better get it figured out.'” He checked himself into rehab to conquer his addictions, and has since insisted that you have to be ready to give up your addiction before help can be found. He credits his wife Sheryl as "the opposite of an enabler," and he managed to turn his life around.
“I got sober in 1991. So it's almost 24 years later. And that changed my life forever and everything good that I have is a result of that,” he says. Back behind the steering wheel, Lowe confirms that, yes, sobriety can be a laborious process – but one that he can personally cope with. “It's not a struggle for me. I see people struggle with it. I luckily was not a person that needed to struggle. I was done.”
Lowe is quick to mention that his sobriety hasn't changed him as a person. "That's no guarantee that tomorrow you are not going to read about me walking naked down the street!" he laughs. "It's a distinct possibility, but I am pretty sure it's not going to happen.”
Sobriety has also left his lust for life fully intact and the past 20 years has seen Lowe embrace opportunity after opportunity. “At my birthday party recently, when people were toasting me, my brother - who knows me better than anyone - remarked that I was always the one that was jumping off the highest high dive. Sometimes that's the good thing and other times it's not the good thing. But at least I know that I am always ready to go for it.”
Post recovery, Lowe has enjoyed a varied career, recently delighting fans as Chris Traeger, the health obsessed government auditor in Parks and Recreation. With big time actors – Kevin Spacey, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kerry Washington, to name but a few - taking over the small screen, it seems that a move to TV is a smart one.
“For sure, without question, the writing is better on TV pound for pound than movies because the businesses have changed so much. So all the great writers would rather work for TV, and they do. When I started on The West Wing, that was at a time when this was still a stigma, because movie stars didn't do TV. Now every movie star is desperate to find their True Detective.”
Is it fair to say he was a pioneer in the small screen revolution?
“I was definitely there at the beginning,” he allows. “Kiefer Sutherland and William Petersen; both of those guys came back to me and said, 'Thank you. I saw what you were able to do, and I said yes to24,' and ‘I said yes to C.S.I.' I was never a brand snob. Whether it's a movie or TV or theatre, whether it's HBO or Showtime or Lifetime, none of it matters to me because none of it matters to the audience - particularly today.”
Regardless, Lowe explains how he’s all too familiar with the career trajectory of a Hollywood male:
“Men play teenagers and then in their twenties play dim-witted, dumb guys - you are in your twenties, who are you going to play? You are not playing the president or someone with cancer or someone going through a divorce. It's going to be boring. And then you get into an age where you just crush, if you are lucky enough to get the parts.”
Lowe found himself caught in the middling years longer than others - “because I probably look a decade younger than I am. I am 50 and I am getting the 40-year-old parts.” He may have joked in the past that his pretty-boy looks got in the way of serious roles, but Lowe's now adamant that any part he tries for is more than skin-deep.
“If you look at the roles that I really like playing, there is nothing about them that is predicated on how I look one way or another: good-bad, fat-thin, hair-no hair, whatever they are just interesting parts, and that's what I am looking for.”
Over twenty years sober and having weathered some extreme ups and downs, present day Rob Lowe is healthy and vibrant. He’s gone from ‘winning’ a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor way back in 1986 for St Elmo’s Fire, to taking home Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, and being nominated for multiple Golden Globes. The Rob Lowe who spoke to The Fix is living proof that overcoming addiction can open the door to the most successful stage of your life.
Women Are Not Powerless
Gabrielle Glaser tells The Fix that the rise of women's drinking in America isn't because they're alcoholics—and treating them that way, including by AA, could make it worse.
Simon and Schuster
Gabrielle Glaser opens Her Best-kept Secret: Why Women Drink—And How They Can Regain Control(published in paperbackthis month), with the words, “My name is Gabrielle, and I’m not an alcoholic.” This sentence neatly encapsulates the conclusions Glaser has come to about the rise of women’s drinking in America: these women are not alcoholics, in fact most people who call themselves alcoholics probably are not; Alcoholics Anonymous is predominantly unhelpful to women and in fact can worsen their problems; and the future lies in moderation, self-control, and a shift in the way we think about drinking.
Last summer Glaser sat down with me to talk about her book at the Algonquin Hotel, site of innumerable bouts of uncontrolled and immoderate drinking by epic wit Dorothy Parker, who (maybe) wrote about her own inability to curb her excesses: “I like to have a martini/ two at the very most/ After three I'm under the table/ after four I'm under my host.”
Perhaps Glaser has some alternative lessons to teach us about drinking that do not require us to forget what we would like to remember. Or remember what we would like to forget.
Why do you think drinking is on the rise among women in America?
The epidemiologists say it’s linked to college education. And there’s just so much anxiety that women have today. I think a lot of women are crawling out of their skin. I’m 49, but I didn’t recognize that I had that anxiety until I was in my early thirties, I didn’t even know what it was, I just thought that’s how I lived, and that experience of not being able to have enough air, I hear that all the time around me. There’s so much to worry about: we don’t turn off our machines, we’re always on our cell phones, the news is unrelentingly bad, there’s so much competition. I think that women feel that a lot more, it’s not that men don’t feel it, but a lot of it falls on to women.
What I’m hearing is that this anxiety, as well as the rise in drinking, are consequences of women catching up to men, and so there is an irony in that all this excessive drinking could be called a result of feminism.
Exactly, and that sounds like a really anti-feminist message, and I really worried about that a lot, and some people said, “You’re bringing us back to 1918.” No, I’m not bringing us back to 1918. I think it’s really important to understand that as much as we do, as much as we take on, as much as we are every bit as capable, this is one place in which we’re just not equal, and we can’t be. Even if there was a man who weighed the same, the physiological effects on a woman and a man are just not the same, that’s science. Also, more women are going into male fields, especially tech and banking – I had a source who was a young woman who worked at Google, and she said “That is the hardest-drinking place you can imagine.” What you saw on The Social Network, she said it happens every night. She said these kids are fabulously wealthy, they’re kids, they’re not grown-ups, and they drink like they’re in ancient Rome, and in order to be accepted, in order to become trusted as one of the guys, she said that for a long time she really felt like she had to keep up, including doing shots.
What do you think is a good way both to combat this rise in drinking among women and not couch it in a way that is anti-feminist?
I think a part of our awareness is actually that we are different, and we need to understand that as such. Women report feeling much more anxious than do men. It’s not that men aren’t anxious, but women are treated and diagnosed with anxiety disorders far more than men. If you are feeling that anxiety, and you’re drinking because of that anxiety, it’s important to find other ways to help relax yourself. I think to recognize your triggers and what you can do personally is a very empowering message: You can take control. You can do something to change. If you’re a stay-at-home mom and you’ve got two kids and they’re in six different activities, well, why the hell are they in six different activities. Cut back. Do they need Tae Kwon Do and hockey? That’s one thing you can do. You can learn to say no more. You can learn to say no to your boss more. That’s a feminist message. Rather than drinking you can say “Hey!” We need to learn to speak up for ourselves a little bit more.
You don’t like the term alcoholic.
No. It’s like being a little bit pregnant. You can have a little bit of an alcohol problem, but you can’t be a little bit of an alcoholic, and I think it’s much more important to say “Ok, here’s somebody on the spectrum, they’re a 3, and here’s somebody on the spectrum, they’re a 6.” It doesn’t mean they’re actually physically dependent on alcohol. That’s why I prefer to use the term alcohol dependent.
It seems that you think AA isn’t that effective, and you think it’s oppressive to women.
That’s what the research showed. AA is a group of people who have a similar narrative. First there’s the narrative of the founders, and then there’s the narrative of the people who are in the group. And if you match that narrative, and you see yourself in that narrative, and that’s helpful to you, that’s fantastic, and don’t read my book. But for the vast majority of people for whom AA doesn’t work, which is between 90 and 95% of the people who try it, then we need to be aware of other options. And there are so many other options that somehow don’t make it into public consciousness and popular culture.
And I think that’s because the narrative of AA is so dramatic. You can go and really feel like you’re a hopeless drunk, you go to meetings, your narrative turns around, you’re in recovery, you’re better, therefore it works. But what about the people outside that? Do I think it’s oppressive? Obviously if you’re in it, and you like it, then it’s not oppressive to you. Science has reported that many people find it oppressive. That’s what my reporting found. So, it’s not really what I think, but these are the data points.
But with alcoholism in general, but in AA in particular, it’s so hard to come by actual statistics that have any validity. I mean that 95% of non-efficacy, I don’t know how that’s actually possible to measure.
That’s from the Quarterly Journal of Alcohol Studies. Don McIntyre wrote that study, and then the Cochrane Review found that it was less effective than other modalities, and certainly the combined study that the government spent 30 million dollars on found it to be the least effective.
If these other programs are so effective, why aren’t they taking hold in the public consciousness? Can it really only be because of the narrative?
No, I think it’s because of the system we have in place. The overwhelming majority of the rehabs that we have in this country are 12-step based, and certainly the insurance companies reimburse for 12-step. They’re only now starting to reimburse for other modalities, and furthermore, medical students, when they are exposed to any sort of addiction treatment it’s AA or NA. So, it’s kind of a cul de sac of thinking in which they’re not exposed to these other things. A doctor I know gives talks on the use of Naltrexone [an opioid antagonist, that can block the effects of certain drugs, including alcohol]. And she said, at Columbia University, nobody had heard of it. And it’s been around for fifty years. Nobody’s making money off of that drug, it’s a generic drug, so pharmaceutical reps aren’t coming into doctors’ offices. They are coming in with the extremely expensive, difficult-to-reimburse, injectable form of Naltrexone, which of course bumps up the compliance level, but it’s $1,000 a month. What insurance company’s going to pay for that? So, all of that combines to crowd out the other options, and notice of the other options. What do you think?
Halfway There—Three Options for Sober Living Homes
Sober halfway houses provide a place to start over, but how do you find the house that's the best fit for you?
Shutterstock
For a considerable amount of time, alcoholics and addicts in treatment were faced with a difficult decision—where to live after completing the treatment program. The decision was not just limited to those who lacked homes or families they could stay with. Rehabs regularly say one should avoid "people, places and things" that are associated with using, so those new to sobriety are urged to gain sober time in a safe environment.
Originally, the term "halfway house" was used for facilities that helped people transition from incarceration into society. For a period of time between six months to a year, former inmates, and later those in recovery, could live in a structured environment designed to provide a safe space while allowing the resident more freedom and responsibility.
Then, because the term “Halfway house” began to pick up negative connotations, names were changed. Nowadays, transitional residences for recovering alcoholics and addicts are called "recovery houses," "sober houses," "clean and sober living residences," and so forth, in addition to halfway houses. The aim of these facilities is to provide time and structure needed for long-term sobriety.
The problem soon became apparent. With no regulating body and an organically growing service, no one could agree upon a set of rules or guidelines for sober living houses. The Oxford Group had its own rules and guiding principles, the National Association of Recovery Residences another, and soon the alcoholic and addict who was about to leave treatment faced a new problem: too many choices rather than too few.
What follows is a series of profiles which attempts to provide some clarity about the types of sober living houses that are available in the U.S. Two are in cities near the coast—Cary, North Carolina and Hollywood Beach, Florida. The other is in Champaign, Illinois—where a new sober living house is about to open via a not-for-profit organization.
C-U at Home and the Recovery House in Champaign
Melany Jackson has three major projects ongoing for C-U at Home, all of which are aimed at helping the homeless population in Champaign, Illinois. One in particular is the C-U at Home recovery house, a small residence set up for recovering addicts. The house residents include three newly recovering alcoholics and addicts and one recovery leader with a minimum of a year of sobriety. The men share in the expenses of the house, with a case manager handling their finances.
The requirements for the four men to get in the program were simple. They have to have "completed successfully a rehabilitation program and to be sober since that time,” Melany said. “This person is either working or will be working to find a job.”
The leader sets the tone for the house, the “fabric” of the house really, as Melany puts it. There’s the practical work, the scheduling of different household chores such as laundry, and more intangible items along the lines of “leading by commitment to recovery” and “the meetings [the resident] attends, the sponsor he interacts with, the daily devotions he completes.”
Melany anticipates that the leader will be a strong model of recovery for the other men in the house.
There are many rules of course. Some are lease-related and others are sorted out between the individuals and their case managers. There is a weekly house meeting and a weekly devotional, with a curfew set at night as well. Finally, there’s a zero tolerance policy for using. Break that rule and you are immediately asked to leave.
“We have a requirement that they are involved in a 12-step program, but that can be AA or NA or Healing Journey, Celebrate Recovery, or others. Each has to have a sponsor or mentor, someone who’s walking by them side-by-side through recovery.”
All men signed an agreement that they would live in the house for at least six months. Six to 12 months is the norm, at which time the men have potentially become self-sufficient enough—and have built up enough savings—to transition to a place of their own. And hopefully, one of the men will become the next leader of the house.
It’s a tight-knit group that will soon enter the C-U at Home’s recovery house and residents have some flexibility about how they grow in their recovery. What happens when the tables are turned and a national organization takes hold?
The Oxford House: Over 1,200 Houses and Counting
The Oxford House concept is simple in theory. “Oxford House is a concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home.
“Each House represents a remarkably effective and low cost method of preventing relapse. This was the purpose of the first Oxford House established in 1975, and this purpose is served, day by day, house after house, in each of over 1,200 houses in the United States today.”
As far as national organizations of halfway houses go, it is huge in scope. But in terms of structure and rules, there is a paucity of both.
According to the Oxford House 2011 manual, “there is only one rule applicable to all Oxford Houses: i.e. membership is conditioned on not drinking.” Other rules have a tendency to develop from the membership of the house itself, the manual continues, but they should only come into being if they are absolutely necessary. More rules, less success, the manual implies.
Like the C-U at Home recovery house, Oxford House group members are required to put forth their share for expenses. Also like the C-U at Home recovery house, a weekly meeting is held with all residents in attendance.
As the saying goes in the manual, Oxford Houses are less like an institution and more like a family.
While Oxford House is not affiliated directly with Alcoholics Anonymous, some of its nine traditions are eerily similar to those used by the 12-step group and even Tradition Four of Oxford House states that “Oxford House is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, organizationally or financially, but Oxford House members realize that only active participation in Alcoholics Anonymous offers assurance of continued sobriety.”
The screening process for new members seems to be scant, with an emphasis placed simply on not drinking and using and being committed to recovery by going to meetings on a regular basis.
The subtext within Tradition Seven states that it “is inconsistent with the Oxford House system of democratic rule to have a professional manager of Oxford House. Likewise, it is inconsistent with the Oxford House concept to have a requirement placed on members to utilize the services of psychiatrists, doctors, or even the program of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous except in very special circumstances.”
In the guide for new Oxford Houses, there is a checklist to follow which includes how to manage money (setting up checking accounts, having an equal share of the expenses per person), how to maintain sobriety (frequently go to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings), and a guide for officers, their responsibilities, serving terms, and so forth.
It’s both similar and dissimilar to the model C-U at Home uses, the major differences being the amount of people allowed at each - Oxford House is set up for 6-15 residents - and the emphasis on Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous as the only mode for recovery.
There doesn’t seem to be an emphasis on “graduating” from the Oxford House program or for the men or women to transition to their own places. The goal seems to be to create a community of recovery-minded alcoholics and addicts, with an emphasis on 12-step recovery.
The Three-Quarter Way House: The Final Stage of Transition
Harmony on the Beach is a blend of a halfway house and a three-quarter way house, all in Hollywood Beach, Florida, near Miami. It’s strictly for women and like the other two featured organizations has a strict no-tolerance policy for drinking and using. The rule is set in place for the benefit of the residents, the organization says.
Many seem to regard three-quarter way houses as the last rung on the ladder for transitioning from treatment to independent living, but Harmony offers structure, support, and community.
In service for 10 years, Harmony has developed its own set of rules that have been implemented over time and through experience. They include committing to six months of residency, passing drug screens, having a 30-day period of sobriety at the time of entry, attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings, paying rent, and adhering to curfew.
At Harmony, it comes down to respect - for residents, yourself, and sobriety in general.
While recovery from alcohol or drug addiction is its first priority, Harmony places an emphasis on holistic recovery, meaning building self-esteem, working on life skills, and increasing employment opportunities.
Similarities and Differences and What Kind Should You Choose?
All three organizations say they are committed to recovery, all three require some form of payment, and all stipulate a recovery program for their residents, whether that’s Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or, in the case of C-U at Home, other options.
Oxford House, while the largest, has the purported fewest rules per house, with only one rule—don’t drink or use, no matter what—set in stone. It also differs in that it puts all emphasis for recovery on 12-step programs, particularly Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Harmony on the Beach combines 12-step recovery with life skills training, self-esteem building, and help with continuing education. It also has a curfew and random drug tests, as well as a 30-day sobriety period required for admission.
It’s difficult to determine which sober living facility will be the most successful as there are scant hard statistics to prove efficacy of halfway and three-quarter way houses. Even the definitions don’t generally help, as each organization has its own way of running things. While this is a broad overview, any potential sober living house should be carefully evaluated by the person leaving treatment, his or her professional team, and his or her loved ones.
Christopher Tepedino is a writer based in Champaign, Illinois. He last interviewed a sober man with leukemia.
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