Chris McGuire, state coordinator for Oxford House, sits on the stoop of the latest home chartered to the addiction recovery organization on Tuesday in Tyler. The first men will move into the new home Saturday, one of 167 in the state and thousands around the world for men and women in recovery, McGuire said. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph

Residents recovering from substance abuse now will have a place to heal in a home environment.

A local branch of Oxford House, a sober living home, opened in Tyler on Saturday.

Oxford House, an organization established in 1975 to help people recovering from alcohol and drug abuse find housing, has nearly 2,000 houses across the country and 163 in Texas. Community members, particularly those associated with Tyler Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care, expressed interest in bringing the program to Tyler.

Living in the homes gives people recovering from substance abuse support and tools to successfully function in society. The average stay is about one year for those who abstain from drugs and alcohol, but there is no time limit on residency.

“We kept getting phone calls and emails from people needing sober housing in the Tyler area,” said Chris McGuire, state outreach coordinator for Oxford Houses of Texas.

McGuire started researching and sought rental properties. It took about a month and a half to secure a home – a duplex on Willard Lane just off of Old Troup Highway in southeast Tyler, which will house seven men.

McGuire will reside with the men for one or two months to help get them started on the right path. As an outreach worker, he’ll help them improve money management and other life skills.

Decisions related to finances and who can live in the house is voted on by residents. The men also have an equal share of rent and expenses, as well as maintaining the upkeep of the house.

“Sober living is different from a halfway house in that it is self-governing and self-supervising,” said Carol Howell, a social worker who, as part of ROSC and Greater Recovery Initiative of Tyler (GRIT), has been instrumental in addressing housing issues in Tyler.

“It is a prelude to independent living for people who have had addiction problems or come out of institutional living,” Howell said.

Most residents in Oxford House homes already have gone through a substance abuse program. In addition, residents are required to go to 12-step meetings outside of the house. A resident can be tested if there is a reasonable suspicion of drug or alcohol use. 

“There’s accountability and freedom at the same time,” McGuire said.

McGuire touts the homes’ high abstinence rate and low relapse rate. According to a 2006 DePaul University study, 13 percent of the 897 residents researchers followed for 27 months relapsed. Another study showed that 66 percent of a sober living group stayed clean and sober, versus 33 percent of another group in traditional living situations.

The Oxford House won’t be the only sober living home settled in Tyler. A home for up to eight women is set to open Feb. 1.

Anika Cooper of Frisco opened Simply Grace, named after her grandmother’s middle name, in Garland in 2011. She considered opening other sober living homes for women in the Dallas area but was led to Tyler first.

As an outreach director at a clinical treatment center, she spoke with community members about the need for sober living houses here while visiting a Tyler hospital.

“There’s a need – a huge need,” she said. “I know Tyler is where I was supposed to be because one door after another started opening up.”

‘GETTING LIVES BACK TOGETHER’

McGuire has been with Oxford House for eight years. Before then, he was a four-year resident in a Dallas home. A cycle of drug abuse and legal problems eventually led him to the Oxford House, although reluctantly.

“During that time, I didn’t want to get clean, but it was the easiest way out without going to prison,” he said. “I didn’t want to live with other guys, but odds were against me if I lived on my own.”

So he gave it a chance.

He said living in the house boosted his self-esteem, as he had new responsibilities, such as being in charge of the checkbook. He opened up more in meetings and got a sponsor. He said the residents in the home became family.

“For the first time in a long time, I felt accepted,” he said. “They didn’t care about my past. They cared about my future.”

Following his success and the success of others, McGuire was inspired to do more.

“It became my passion,” he said.

He later became a state chairman of Oxford House Texas and served as vice chair on the organization’s World Council.

McGuire also helped raise funds to open additional homes in Dallas.

“Knowing how lives are changed is a feeling I can’t described,” he said. “That’s what keeps me going – getting lives back together.”

CLOSER LOOK

Planning and zoning officials said last week that the home met the city’s requirements for that zone, which allows six or fewer people per address. The duplex has two units for a total of four bedrooms.    

Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that those recovering from alcoholism and drug abuse were a protected class under the handicapped provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988, spurring the opening of more sober living houses in communities. 

For more information about Oxford House or residency requirements, email chris.mcguire@oxfordhouse.org.