Human ServicesBoard of DirectorsNonprofit Member
Friends of Recovery advocates for the Kansas Oxford Houses, a concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. An Oxford House is a democratically run, self-supporting, and drug-free home, where each house is a remarkably effective and low-cost method of preventing relapse. Oxford House is listed as a Best Practice on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices [NREPP] and singled out as an effective tool for long-term recovery in the U.S. Surgeon General's Report. FORA advocates for the service participants and focuses on; finding houses to rent, recruiting initial residents, teaching the system of operations, building chapters, balancing the number of homes to the demand of the service participants, developing links to providers, employment links, social service agencies, compiling resources, and documenting demographics, vacancy rates, and relapse rates. FORA attends house/chapter meetings, negotiates with landlords, and mediates disagreements between house members, landlords, or neighbors. Friends of Recovery hosts monthly New Member Orientations, workshops with house and chapter officers, Oxford House model training, and trauma-informed care. Friends of Recovery is the liaison between Oxford House Inc and the Kansas Oxford Houses. In Kansas, there are 157 Oxford Houses for over 1300 individuals in recovery at any given time. Two thousand eight hundred sixty-two service participants utilized the Kansas Oxford Houses in 2021.