Whats the history of sober houses?
During the late 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s members of Alcoholics Anonymous developed and operated Twelve Step Houses. In 1948, the first sober living house called the 512 Fellowship Twelfth Step House was started by a recovering alcoholic named Pat W. In 1974, a group of residents at a closing Maryland State-operated halfway house adopted and converted the house into the first Oxford House. By 1986, the Oxford Houses expanded to 24 houses. During the 1990’s, sober living houses experienced a grass roots movement of rapid growth for the following reasons: • Alcoholics and recovering addicts were included in the definition of persons with disabilities in the 1988 amendments to the Federal Fair Housing Law; • rooming and boarding houses were closed as land use zoning laws practically removed them from existence over the last 30 years; • finding affordable housing is particularly difficult for low-income recovering persons; and • a decrease in government funding for alcohol and drug treatm
