Mercer County Fellowship Home, Inc

PO Box 4211/421 Scott Street

Bluefield, WV 24701

The Mercer County Fellowship Home is not a Rescue Mission nor is it a residence for transients to spend the night. It is a Home which attempts to provide adult males over the age of 18 a safe home to continue their recovery from substance abuse. Residents are allowed to stay for a period of 3 months to 18 months unless approved by the Board of Directors. In any facility such as this one, rules and regulations are deemed necessary. Because the conduct of one person cannot be permitted to jeopardize the recovery of others, disruptive attitudes and behavior will not be tolerated. The staff will give up to 2 warnings on the rules and the resident will be discharged on the 3rd offense.

 HOUSE RULES AND REGULATIONS 

1. All residents shall be familiar with the House Rules along with Fire and Safety Procedures.

2. Absolutely no alcohol will be permitted while you are a resident of the Home. This applies at all times including when you are away from the Home. This applies to the usage of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Violations of this will result in immediate Discharge and possible prosecution according to the Law. This same rule applies to visitors and relatives.

3. All prescription medications will be turned over to the Staff for safe keeping and proper administration. Non-prescription medications must be approved by the Staff and may be kept by the resident with the approval of the Director.

4. Residents are subject to random Drug and Alcohol tests at any time the Director decides to test. Failure of these tests or refusal of these tests will result in immediate discharge from the Home.

5. The Director and Staff reserve the right to perform a room search at any time it is deemed necessary to insure the serenity and security of the Home. This includes personal items and vehicles if appropriate.

6. Threats or acts of violence toward the Staff or other Residents will not be tolerated and will result in immediate discharge and prosecution according to the Law.

7. No Firearms, hunting knives or other weapons are permitted by the residents of the Home.

8. Smoking in the Home is NOT PERMITTED and will result in immediate discharge. Smoking is permitted in the smoking area out back of the Home until 11pm unless otherwise approved by the Director.

9. You must respect the rights of the other residents at all times. Each and every resident will be given a fair and equal opportunity to continue their recovery at the Home.

10. Gambling is strictly prohibited, including the purchase of Lottery Tickets.

11. No resident will borrow or loan money to other residents.

12. Any resident that has access to a vehicle may bring their vehicle to the Home after 30 days if they are working, or after 60 days if not. This is at the discretion of the Director.

13. House curfew is 10:00PM every night. The doors will be locked at that time. Unless approved by the staff, any resident returning after 10 must find other sleeping arrangements for the night. Failure to return by curfew will result in discharge from the Home.

14. All residents must use the sign in/out sheet when leaving the property. This must be done to ensure that the Staff knows where residents are at all times.

15. All residents must live at the Home for three days before they can sign themselves out. Each resident will become, at the Directors discretion, eligible for a 3 hour pass on their free days. 

16. All residents must live at the Home for thirty days before they can become eligible for an overnight or weekend pass. This time period may be waived by the Director for emergencies and special circumstances. 2 passes per month may be approved on alternating weekends. Should an emergency arise that prevents you from returning on specified date or time, you must contact the staff immediately. Passes must be filled out by Wed at noon of the week requested.

17. All visitors are subject to the approval by Staff. No visitors are permitted on the property while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Female visitors are allowed only at the discretion of the Director. No visitors will be permitted upstairs or allowed during group sessions or for scheduled AA meetings.

18. There are to be no personal calls until after 5pm on weekdays unless an emergency exists. Personal calls must be taken on the hallway phone. Cell phones are permitted at the Directors discretion.

19. All residents are to assist in keeping the Home and surrounding grounds neat and clean. This includes daily assigned chores, special work assignments and your own room. Beds will be made daily and chores completed by 9am daily.

20. If a residents goes to work, they are still responsible for their chores. You may ask another resident to do them and repay him by either doing his chore or money. The responsibility of the chore being done will fall upon the resident originally assigned the chore.

21. All food and snack items will be eaten in the dining room. No eating in the bedrooms, television lounge or smoking area. No drinks other than water may be taken off the first floor at any time.

22. All residents will be responsible for keeping the kitchen cleaned. Any violations of this such as dirty microwave, crumbs, spills not cleaned up, etc...will result in discharge from the Home. All dishes must be washed using hot, soapy water and must be air dried per the Mercer County Health Dept.

23. Residents must be fully clothed (including shoes) and downstairs by 7:30am daily. Residents are also expected to maintain good hygiene and personal cleanliness. This includes taking a shower daily.

24. No resident is to return to bed after 7:30am weekdays unless approved by staff or he has a written permission form from a doctor.

25. Each resident is to be in his own room and lights out by 11:30pm with the exception of Friday and Saturday when lights out is 1:00am.

26. Laundry is to be done during assigned times unless approved by staff. No resident will put laundry in and leave the premises. Lint filters will be cleaned after each load. At no time, will laundry be done after 6pm unless approved by the Staff.

27. No resident is to enter another residents room without the other resident being there. Locks are provided for each room. Keeping doors locked is the residents responsibility.

28. Residents will keep the volume of their radios at a level not to be heard in the hallways or stairways. Failure to do so will result in loss of this privilege. Headphones must be used after 11:00pm.

29. Televisions will be turned on only after 5pm weekdays unless approved by the Staff.

30. There will be no nude or partially nude pictures on the walls of the residents rooms.

31. All appointments should be scheduled for your free day. If unable to do this, arrangements to miss a group must be approved by the Staff.

32. All residents must attend scheduled AA meetings at the Home on Tuesdays and Fridays. The first Friday of every month is innergroup meeting and weekend passes will not be approved until after the meeting.

33. Anyone needing to miss a scheduled group at the Home must have the staff's permission. Residents under 30 days will not miss scheduled groups for any reason.

34. All residents who qualify for EBT will turn these over to the staff to buy food for the Home and to help pay for their stay here. Pro-rated portions will be returned to the resident when leaving the program. All other residents must pay 200.00 monthly to cover their stay here. The Director will make arrangements to ensure that each resident is attempting to pay for his stay at the Home.

35. All residents that are able to work, must start looking for full or part time work after 30 days unless waived by Director and Counselors. All scheduled meetings will still be attended unless resident has a W-2 paying job and schedule showing he is working. Individuals feeling that they cannot work, must be on disability or have a statement from a doctor explaining the reason. Any resident that cannot pay for his stay here is required to work 20 hours a week on Home projects or volunteering at an organization that helps the Home.

36. All residents are responsible for finding their own transportation to and from work.

37. The Home will not accept responsibility for medical or other expenses incurred by the Resident while staying at the Fellowship Home.

38. If a resident is discharged or leaves the Home, all sums of money paid to the Home shall be forfeited to the Home.

39. When discharged from the Home, all personal effects must be removed immediately. The Home will not accept responsibility for items that have been left. The home will make every effort to protect personal items and will hold them for 10 days (without assuming responsibility) to give time for resident to make arrangements to pick them up. After 10 days, items will be donated to local mission and will not be stored at the Home. The same applies to personal items of individuals residing in the Home. Valuables may be turned over to the staff for safekeeping.

40. The Director of the Home has the final decision as to whether a resident is following the rules and whether the resident can remain at the Home. Every effort will be made to ensure that the resident understands the rules and is complying with the rules of the Home before resident is discharged.

41. If a resident has a grievance against the Home, another client, and/or a staff member there is a grievance policy form for you to fill out and give to the Director. Do not take Home business out in the public community and DO NOT CONTACT A BOARD MEMBER. Follow the grievance procedure.

Rules are subject to change without notice.

Revised and Reviewed by MCFH BOD on 1-17-2012