Six houses in Bloomington are home to men and women overcoming addiction, part of an organized treatment network that offers independent housing to help people regain their footing.
The 49 Oxford House residents live together, seven to 10 per house. Each household is considered a family under federal housing codes. The sober-living homes in city neighborhoods operate as nonprofits, exempt from local limits on the number of unrelated individuals allowed to live under one roof.
The Oxford House transition model was started with one home in Maryland in 1975. There are now 68 in Indiana, and more than 2,200 worldwide in 45 states, Canada, Australia, England and Ghana.
Each house has a charter with the organization, a franchise of sorts, and is financially independent.
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A local initiative called Courage to Change oversees four other sober-living transitional houses in Bloomington, two for men and two for women.