GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — There is a new program in Grand Rapids giving women a safe space to recover from addiction.
The Guiding Light women’s recovery program started in June to address a need in the community. In 2022, there were more than 48 million Americans over the age of 12 who had a substance abuse disorder, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The new program includes three houses for women to work together to overcome their addiction. There are eight women in one of the houses called ‘Kendra’s House’. The home was named in honor of a woman named Kendra, who lost her life to addiction.
“Kendra looks normal and then her life is cut short due to alcoholism. For us that have been in addiction, we always think that final death will not happen to us,” Brian Elve, the executive director of Guiding Light, said. “We kind of think we’re invincible like we hear about those stories, but the reality is, if you’re playing, you roll the dice, not in your favor, to continue down that path, that much chance, you can die.”
The new recovery program has women stay in shared homes for around four to six months and then they look for work. During their time there, they attend programs, therapy, spiritual formation, and more. After that they are able to go into transitional housing if needed.
“We take this very seriously,” Elve said. If someone wants to come to our program, they need to be willing to do different behaviors.”
Elishia Ash works directly with the participants as the women’s recovery program manager. She said after seeing the success of Guiding Light’s men’s program, it was time to give women a similar program.
“It came out of a need that Guiding Light just saw within the recovery community in general where women are underserved,” Ash said. “I saw how successful it was for men and I’m like, ‘If women had that, the change in the Grand Rapids landscape could be exponential.'”
Ash said she was in a similar place as the women in the program around 15 years ago when she was trying to overcome her own addiction.
“I look at my kids and I realize I almost gave all that up,” Ash said. “So it’s humbling. It’s also really empowering to know that I can be a part of somebody else’s journey.”
Elve also struggled with addiction in the past and went through Guiding Light’s men’s program. He said he wanted to help launch this new program to give people the positive experience that he got.
“I felt like my life was kind of over,” Elve said. “Now I look back and I see it as a gift because I was just really falling short of being anywhere near a better version of myself.”
Ash said by having the women living in the same house it helps them support and grow together. She also hopes that by showing these women that they can overcome their addiction, it will inspire others to know it’s okay to ask for help.
“I think there’s still a lot of stigma attached to substance use and recovery. I think there is this perception that it’s a willpower or moral failing,” Ash said. “That stigma still needs to be abolished because that’s not what it is.”
Guiding Light said they talk directly with applicants to make sure that this program is a good fit for them and the organization. They ask anyone interested in applying for the program to reach out to them here.