GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Guiding Light has launched a new Women's Collective aimed at raising awareness of its women's recovery program, which provides free, long-term addiction recovery services.
WATCH: Guiding Light launches Women's Collective to boost recovery awareness
The organization launched the collective Tuesday. The new effort is aimed at creating a networking group of women that will raise awareness. It also supports and encourages women struggling with addiction to join the recovery program.
Earlier this month, FOX 17 highlighted Guiding Light's women's recovery program after seven women achieved one year of sobriety through the program's long-term addiction support.
After a little over two years in operation, Guiding Light found a lack of awareness around its women's recovery program, which is why it started the new effort to get the word out.
"We learned there was a lot of interest from the community, but simultaneously we discovered that we really needed to have more awareness just around the women's recovery program," Alison Gillum said.
Gillum, Guiding Light's community engagement director, said expanding access is key to reaching more people.
"The more accessible these programs are, the more people that we're going to be able to help," Gillum said.
According to the American Addiction Centers, social support can make a real difference for people in recovery — but people first have to know those programs exist.
Ondrea Havemeier is one of the collective's first members and has battled her own addictions. She told me just how challenging it can be for women to get the support they need and says she hopes she can use her own experiences to help make a difference.
"By bringing all these women together and coming up with ideas for fundraising or any other needs that they may have, it's like, hey, we're here, we're doing something with women in recovery," Havemeier said.
Following the launch, the Women's Collective will host quarterly educational and social events, provide volunteer opportunities and share regular updates about the women's recovery program. Women can participate in events and activities or become members for $25 per month, with membership contributions directly supporting the program.
Women interested in learning more about Guiding Light's Women's Collective can click here.
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