Days of sobriety add up at Cumberland Oxford House
The Camel Prayer is significant in the Cumberland Oxford House for its symbolism with staying dry, like a camel.
A hand-carved puzzle on the mantel greets guests to the Cumberland Oxford House in Waynesburg. It has the signatures of those who have made a contribution in some way to its mission of providing a recovery house for those breaking away from addiction.
WAYNESBURG – Inside an unassuming two-story house at Cumberland and Greene streets in Waynesburg live four men, ranging in age from 19 to over 50, with a commonality that brought them together. Each of them has a desire to recover from an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
This residence, known as an Oxford House, is giving them the chance to experience life without the substances that controlled them.
The Cumberland Oxford House in Waynesburg opened in November through the efforts of the community recovery committee at Steps Inside, a nonprofit drug and alcohol drop-in center in Morrisville. Committee members recognized the need for a safe place for those in recovery to live away from the people and places that were a part of the addictive cycle. The committee sought and found the Oxford House, an evidence-based model that proved it worked. Steps Inside is not affiliated with Oxford House. It merely served as the vessel to bring one of its homes to Greene County.
Articulate and a talented portrait artist, Lee, 26, was first busted for drugs in the eighth grade. He was placed in juvenile detention. Instead of returning to school, he opted to test for his GED.
A few years ago, Lee was involved in a violent car crash that left him in a coma.
Now, three months clean from his addiction to heroin, Lee said Oxford House has brought out some of the greatest feelings of his life.
“It is like getting a new toy car for Christmas when I was a kid,” he said.
At Oxford House, residents are responsible for their actions. Each resident must interview for a spot in the house. If they are accepted, they are required to sign a contract that spells out the house rules. Residents pay rent and are required to attend weekly house meetings, do chores and hold each other accountable.
“I readily volunteered to move in,” said Tom, who was one of the people that helped bring Oxford house to Waynesburg. “Part of it is I wanted to live with other recovering people.” A little over a year sober, Tom said the house operates under a democratic process.
When one of the residents wasn’t picking up after himself in common areas, the others brought it to the table at the mandatory Sunday morning meeting. Tom said that was all it took and the person “stepped it up,” to do his part in maintaining the house.
It took 3,004 volunteer hours and $30,000 to get the house move-in ready. All new flooring, painting, appliances, and more had to be in place before it could happen. The result is a bright and inviting space for six men in recovery. There are still two spots available in the house, emphasized Bob Terry, president of Steps Inside.
Terry said Oxford Houses across the country have a relapse rate for residents between 13 to 16 percent, as opposed to a traditional halfway house with 85 to 95 percent relapsing. He hopes to see an Oxford House for women with addiction in Greene County in the coming months.
The son of addicted parents, Lee moved from lesser drugs to heroin when he was 16 to impress a girl.
He’d never shot up before but wanted to appear cool so he told her he had and let her inject him. That was all it took, Lee said. In that moment he felt better than he had ever felt, like every bad thing in his life to that point just melted away, and disappeared, he said.
“I had two people that love me very much. My grandparents gave me the best life they could give me,” he said. Lee lived with them. “But, I was looking for something and drugs filled that empty space. I found a way to run (from his problems) without ever leaving my room,” he said.
When he would find himself under arrest the options were often probation or treatment. Neither was effective.
“My insurance would only cover about 12 days. I’d call it an oil change since I’d go there long enough to get everything out of my system and then be back out and on drugs the same day,” he said. “This (Oxford House) is a different way of thinking. Thank God they have this house here that’s different.”
Terry said that is the encouraging thing they are finding.
“We’re accumulating days now for individuals who haven’t been able to stay clean for this amount of time. One of the fellows today said, ‘It’s the house, it’s the ‘we.””
At the height of his addiction, Lee was using 75 stamp bags of heroin a day at a cost that soared to a few hundred dollars a day.
Tom recalled being asked, “How come you kept drinking? I told her, ‘Everything was wonderful (when he drank).’ I was drinking when I was 14 and I had a blackout and didn’t remember anything and I thought I had the greatest night of my life.”
For those who were concerned about having an Oxford House in their community, Tom said he thinks they are proving themselves as good neighbors.
“I think it was the fear of the unknown. We’re living respectfully. They don’t see us staggering or stumbling in,” he said. “There are never any loud noises or problems. We shovel our driveway and sidewalk and put out our garbage.”
There are curfews for residents and they are responsible for the actions of their guests. Anyone who is believed to be using will be asked to take a drug test. Refusal to take the test, or taking it and failing will result in immediate expulsion from the house.
“If you stay off drugs it will get better. I didn’t believe that at first,” Lee said. “Tomorrow I don’t have to worry about getting drugs because I’m not using them today. Try it; try this. It is a new way of life and it is going to be different but it’s worth it.”
Bob said that is what Oxford House is about.
“He (Lee) hasn’t relapsed in the three months he’s lived here. That’s what this house is about,” he said.
Lee smiled and then got serious.
“To say I’m sorry to my grandparents would mean nothing, it’s just words. I’m showing it to them now and for her (his grandmother) to hand me a $20 bill and not have to worry, ‘What’s he going to do with it,’ that says it,” Lee said. “The other day my grandfather hugged me and told me he loved me. He had never said he loved me before. It was a good feeling – a natural high.”
For more information on how to apply for a space in the Cumberland Oxford House, contact 724-833-9650.