Founders of the national organization believe alcoholics by nature dislike regulations, and so each home has only three. But they are strictly enforced. Anyone who drinks or uses drugs is out immediately. No one gets a second chance, although a member can ask a house's residents to vote him back in after he's clean again. Residents don't tolerate disruptive behavior -whether fighting or threats.
Many people come to the house just out of a treatment program for their addiction.
They may have a history of lost jobs, arrests for drunken driving and wrecked credit histories - the sort of problems that make renting an apartment or finding good jobs difficult. Alcoholism does not discriminate, Dugan said. Residents come from all backgrounds. A lot of it is learning to get along with different personalities. Frajola, with his Patagonia shirt and tidy haircut, looks like the restaurant owner he once was.