Shekinah Communities General Facility Rules

 

Safety-

• Keep bedroom and exterior doors closed and locked.
• Front Porch Light(s) turned on at night.
• Windows are to be kept closed and locked.
• No burning incense or candles, no fireworks allowed.

Zero Tolerance-

• No alcohol or any illegal substances are allowed.
• There is zero tolerance for possession or use of drugs (including but not limited to such drugs as ‘spice’, ‘bath salts’, ‘K2’, over the counter medications and cough medicines) or alcohol, or abuse of prescription drugs on or off the premises.
• You are responsible for reporting to the facility manager if you are aware that another member is using any form of the above mentioned drugs or alcohol or abusing prescription drugs on or off the property.
• No guests in possession of or under the influence of the above mentioned drugs or alcohol on or off the premises.
• You may be asked by the facility manager or director at any time to submit to a supervised drug test should there be any suspicion or behavior indicative of relapse.
• If asked to submit a drug test, it must be submitted immediately and under supervision; refusal to submit or submit immediately will be considered a positive result and you will be terminated from membership immediately. You will be given 2 hours to gather your property and vacate the premises.

Alterations, Maintenance, Damage and Storage-

• No substantial alterations, addition, improvements or defacing of doors, windows, and or premises is allowed without permission of Facility Manager.
• There is no extra storage space provided other than what has been assigned to you; anything that exceeds your assigned space will not be allowed to be stored elsewhere on the premises.
• No additional furniture can be brought onto/into premises unless prior approval by Executive Director.
• Any maintenance issues are to be reported to the Facility Manager immediately upon discovery.
• Maintenance requests should be in writing and given to the Facility Manager. Adequate time must be allowed to have issue handled.
• If you break anything, you may be held responsible to replace or pay for replacement.

Rooms-

• • Rooms are to be kept clean and orderly.
  • Beds are to be made daily.
  • Clean laundry put away, and dirty laundry out of sight.
  • No dirty cups or dishes or open food is allowed in rooms, no eating in rooms.
  • Bedroom trash must be placed in the outside trash cans on the days chores are assigned to be completed.
  • Trash cannot be piled up in your room.

• Do not put your Items on your Roommate’s side of the room.

• Do not hang clothes, hats or any items on the windows or curtains.

• Trash cans must be emptied.
• Open containers of food cannot be in the bedrooms.

• Lamps, TV, radios and fans must be OFF when you are not in there for more than 15 minutes.

• Push Pins are OK to hang hats and other items on or to hang up pictures. Duct/Masking or other types of tape is not allowed. Command Strips are preferred but not required.

• Members are not allowed to enter another member’s room without prior approval.
• If you have any concerns about another member you should address it to the Facility Manager.

• No stealing, lending or borrowing of any member’s property, food or anything without their permission.

• If any of these activities take place it shall be considered a breach of this Agreement and Member will be immediately dismissed from premises and arrangements shall be made with the Facility Manager to obtain any personal property at a later reasonable time and date.

• Resident must return clean linen to Facility Manager before leaving.

• Any keys must be returned to Facility Manager along with a completed Change of Address Form or proof of online Change of Address submission.

 

Common Areas-

• Common areas are for the use of all members. It is for members to kick back, relax,  watch television and socialize.
• No sleeping on the couches or leaving personal things such as shoes, clothing. This includes folding and sorting of laundry.
• Dishes and other personal items should not be left in the common areas.
• All members are expected to help keep the bathroom, living areas, computer area, the floors and their refrigerator clean. Outdated food is to be discarded. 
• Chores are to be completed as assigned by 11:00 AM but should not be done the day before.
• Must be fully/appropriately dressed.

Personal cabinet and refrigerator space-       .    

• No pots or pans in the Refrigerator.
•     Your personal Cabinet and Refrigerator space should be kept clean at all times.
•    Facility Bowl/Silverware and Plates are not to be stored in your personal cabinet space.

Behavior-

• Be respectful of others in the house and in your rooms, be mindful that everyone may work different hours and need their rest as well.
• Do NOT directly or indirectly threaten anyone, display passive aggressiveness, no verbal assaults or assault of any kind, no arguing with anyone, including Facility Manager or Director.
• Do not engage in physical violence nor possess any weapons or explosives of any kind.
• Each house has Grievance Forms available in the office or living area.

Medications-

• You must inform Facility Manager of any prescription medications you are taking before they are brought into the house.
• Medications will be discussed between you and the Facility Manager Only.
• Some medications may be required to be kept in a locked and secure area.
• No one will be allowed to be a member at Shekinah Communities if they are on any kind of methadone treatment.

Cleanliness-

• No sleeping on the couches.
• No leaving personal items lying around the facility.
• Everyone is expected to contribute to keeping the facility clean, chores will be assigned and performed regularly  per chore instruction list.
• There is a $10 fine assessed for 1st instance of chores not being completed in a 30 day period. 2nd offense within 30 days may result in a $20 fine being assessed. A third offense within 30 days of last infraction may result in a $20 fine being assessed along with consultation with Executive Director resulting in being placed on a 30 to 60 day Probation.
• No eating in the bedrooms.
• No bikes are allowed in the facility unless stored in a private room with advanced permission from the Executive Director.

Vehicles-

• No major maintenance work on your car or any other cars on the property.
• You are responsible for cleanup of any fluid leaks from vehicles belonging to you or your guests on and in front of the property.
• Any vehicle on or in front of said property must be properly inspected and legal.
• Do not park in front of neighbor’s houses or in neighbors driveways, do not obstruct driveways or neighbor’s driveways, this includes any guest.   Members are responsible for their guests.

Smoking/Loitering-

• Designated smoking area is out on the back porch.
• Dispose of cigarette butts in proper receptacles, not on the ground.
• Empty your ashtray after use.
• No loitering out in front of the facility.

Utilities-

• Lights, TV’s and fans should be turned off when not in use or you leave the property.
• Thermostat is not to be adjusted by anyone but the Facility Manager.

Guests-

• No overnight guests.
• Guests are permitted to visit on weekends between the hours of 9AM and 8PM for no longer than 3 hours per day. With advanced notice out of town guests traveling more than 60 miles may visit for up to 8 hours. 
• Guests are not allowed during the week.
• Guests are not allowed in any bedrooms, cannot go in the refrigerator, or any other than those specifically designated as Guest Area.
• Under no circumstances can guests be a using addict, under the influence, or in possession of any mind-altering drugs or committing crimes.
• You are responsible for your guest and how they conduct themselves when on the property.

Member Dues-

• Member Dues are to be paid on the 1st of the month in the full amount.
• You are responsible for paying your Member Dues to the Facility Manager on or before the day it is due. It is not the Facility Manager’s responsibility to remind you to pay your Member Dues. It is your responsibility to make whatever arrangements you need to make in order to pay your Member Dues on time.
• There will be a $5.00 a day late charge assessed to Member Dues not made on the day it is due.

Computer/WiFi-

• The facility computer is available for respectable use. No illegal use of computer, no porn or other  Peer to Peer (P2P) web sites or downloads of any kind are allowed on the facility computer. If you are caught violating the computer rules you will not be able to use it.
• High Speed WiFi is available for respectable use, no porn or illegal use (including P2P web sites) is allowed. Violators are subject to a charge of $50 by Shekinah Communities in addition to any legal costs incurred for illegal use.  Kodi Boxes and other devices/software of this type are not permitted on Shekinah Communities networks. Additionally access to computer and or network may be denied and may lead to immediate termination of month to month Membership Agreement.
• Usage of Shekinah Communities computers and or networks (Including WiFi) are subject to monitoring and content filtering.
• Use of KODI Boxes and the like for streaming of copyrighted material without paying for it is not allowed.
• Pay per View – Ordering of Pay per View Movies is strictly prohibited. Violators will be charged for cost of order in addition to a $20 administrative fee. Additionally, if a cable box is found with repeat violations it will be replaced with a cable box that does not allow the ordering of pay per view – this would also restrict number of channels available.

Facility Meetings/AA Meetings–

• Facility meetings will be held once a week, or whenever the Facility Manager or Director determines  the need to have one.
• Facility meeting generally scheduled on a  Sunday at 7 PM.
• Everyone is required to attend house meetings.
• In facility (Highland Heights – Highland Heights Members) AA Meetings every Wednesday at 7 PM.
• Everyone is required to attend in facility (Highland Heights – Highland Heights Members) AA Meetings.
• Those in recovery must have sponsor and attend outside meetings regularly.

Employment-

• Maintaining employment while a member at Shekinah Communities is required unless you are disabled and collecting SSI or SSDI.
• Should you lose your job at any time, you will be required to sign up with the Texas Workforce, actively seek employment and obtain employment within 2 weeks.
• You will not be permitted to sleep in late or during the day.  You must be up and actively seeking employment daily. This means you should be out of bed no later than 8:30 AM, chores completed and out the door actively seeking work by 9:00AM and should be actively seeking work or assistance from Texas Workforce until 3:00PM
• All concerns, questions, problems, maintenance issues, and payments are to be reported to the Facility Manager.

Termination-

• You are required to restore your space to its prior condition upon move out.
• Any property not removed from premises within 3 days of membership termination, will be considered abandoned and will be donated.
• Violation of any of the House Rules may result in termination from residence at Shekinah Communities.

Financial Assistance-

• Should  you need financial assistance you must get in contact with appropriate resources.  Within  48 hours please provide proof that you have made contact. You will be expected to perform chores within the facility until you can obtain work.

Curfew-

• If you plan to leave the property over 48 hours you must let the Facility Manager know and  to let the manager know when you will return and a phone number where he/she can contact you.