Come enjoy our beautiful spring weather, meet new friends, re-unite with former alumnus! Bikes are compliments of Chef Jordan of Greenline Bicycle Rentals, dinner compliments of La Paloma.

RSVP to Carol Ricossa by Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Two authors also presented their books. One was a children’s book with full color illustrations. The other was a memoir about addiction, change and recovery by one of our Michael’s House alumni. Look for the book to be announced on the Michael’s House Facebook page very soon. Our entertainment included performance from four musicians. We featured acoustic guitarists, a flautist and an acapella opera singer!

Artists for Recovery was our community outreach to spread the word about both Heroes in Recovery and our mission to help “Break the Stigma” of seeking help for mental health issues and addiction, as well as to raise money for the Soroptomist House of Hope. House of Hope is a small women’s treatment center located here in the Coachella Valley that runs primarily on donated funds.

The evening was a beautiful success and a sizeable donation was made to House of Hope, along with a beautiful photograph donated by one of the artists. Please continue to check the alumni website for more events coming soon. If you are community oriented and have an idea for a Heroes in Recovery community outreach event in your area, please contact me. I’d love to help.

Friday, April 19, 2013 4:00 pm – 7:30 PM
The Corridor
515 N Palm Canyon Drive | Palm Springs, CA

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FLIER

But soon, the missing piece becomes clear. My body is tired and hungry for rest. My soul is hungry for stillness and meditation. My spirit craves lightness, laughter and nonsense.

Today, I will begin my journey of living life slower, calmer and with more intention. When I begin swerving into that oh-so-familiar fast lane of life, I will gently veer myself into the more leisurely lane. I will recognize and embrace the bloom of the present moment.

March brought us the Professionals’ Weekend.  Michael’s House hosted 35 potential referral sources to experience the MH Clinical Program for three days.  They attended presentations, heard about the experience of being a patient from previous alumni, enjoyed our adventure therapy with a hike in the Tahquitz Canyon and more.  This is a very important weekend for us to shine and show the incredible work we do here at MH.

April will bring us the Artists for Recovery art show! This is part of the Heroes in Recovery movement to bring awareness and help break the stigma of seeking help for mental illness and addiction in our community.  On Friday, April 19^th from 4:00pm-7:30pm, local artists, alumni, staff and patients will show and sell their artwork.  This will be held in the lawn area of the corridor at IOP.  Please contact me if you would like to show and sell your work, if you have a friend to refer or if you know someone who would like to play music during the event.  Proceeds from the sales of the artwork will go to House of Hope, a women’s treatment center in Desert Hot Springs.

Finally, May will bring us LUSH, a play about the first woman who entered AA.  This presentation will be on the evening of Saturday, May 11^th.   Patients, alumni and the public are welcome to attend.  More details will be coming soon.

I’m always looking for new event ideas for the alumni and Heroes in Recovery so I’d love to hear from you!

We began a service project at the end of the year that concluded in mid-January. Fostercares is a Roswell-based organization that supports foster children of north Georgia. They collect new and slightly used donations that meet the needs of children from birth on. The patients, AMP patients, alumni and staff at Foundations Atlanta have adopted this cause and set forth to help stock the shelves at Fostercares. I am happy to report that we collected 89 items in all, including clothing, toys and sporting equipment. Thank you all for your wonderful spirit of service and your generous giving. If anyone feels led to continue in this spirit of service, here is the website with the information about when and where to donate and volunteer opportunities: www.fostercares.org

It’s Time to Put on Your Chef’s Hat

Alumni events are beginning again this month. On February 8th, we will gather at the Aprons Cooking School. Aprons is located inside the Publix grocery store at 4305 State Bridge Road in Alpharetta, GA and everyone will need to arrive by 10:00am. During this event, a professional chef will teach and guide us during this hands-on training as we create multiple dishes. It will culminate with us gathering to dine on our creations. This event costs $45 for alumni. You will need to sign up by February 6th, simply by calling me, Kathy Blanda, at 770-234-0674. Here’s a link for some more information: www.publix.com/aprons/schools/Alpharetta/Home.do

I hope everyone is thriving in this new year. Remember that you all are a part of the Foundations alumni family and a helpdesk is always there for you in times of unease with your recovery. The number is 1-877-714-1322 and someone will always be there for you.

In addition to having the joy of so many familiar faces, we also had a Toys for Tots drive at our Holiday Celebration. The amount of toys that were donated was astounding! It is so important to remember the less fortunate, especially during the holiday season. Giving just a little can bring so much to another human being.

We tend to forget how blessed we are. As we head into the new year, this holiday season was a big reminder of what we all have and how much we have to be grateful for—one of which is being able to provide a service to those suffering from a serious illness and helping them find light. We are all heroes in one way or another!

Loyal MH staff were in attendance such as Sharon C. from the UR department and Shep S., long time residential counselor, both of whom have attended since the very beginning. Also in attendance were Chris T. from our family program, Angie Garmisa and MJ from intake, and Barry Solof, Michael’s House Medical Director. Many others have been attending for some time and others came who had never attended before—all of them were dedicated practitioners.

Larry Yang, who led our second week, officiated and led the group last night in a 30 minute practice period focusing on breath and seeing thoughts as non-problems. He also spoke to the topic of community as support for our practice.

The night was commemorated by the blessing cord ceremony performed by Larry. This involves a red piece of thread that symbolizes the cord from a monk’s robe. Three knots were tied in the thread, representing the following: one for all the intentions we have done to bring us to this moment in our lives and what we have become; another for future intentions supporting our practice and our goals; and the other for the community supporting us in reaching our intentions.

The evening was a successful event. I would like to express appreciation for Michael’s House CEO Krista Gilbert for her continuing support, Michael’s House and FRN for sponsorship of our group.

We would love to have you, our alumni, join us every Tuesday night at 7:00pm here at Michael’s House Outpatient.

Namaste.

This December we hit the ground running, literally. Roswell had the honor of hosting the “Heroes In Recovery 6k”. We began the weekend’s events by first hosting our Heroes In Recovery Pre-Race Recharge. We were honored to have a special guest presenter and performer, Edwin McCain. Our own Jennifer Angier and Thurman Strother collaborated with Edwin to present, “The Movement Of Grace”. Seventy Alumni, current patients and family members gathered at a local historic event location and were fed not only breakfast and lunch, but a spirit full of knowledge and grace. This being my first “Recharge”, I couldn’t help but feel blessed to be included in this rewarding experience.

The following morning we surpassed our long shot goal of two hundred participants for the first ever Roswell “Heroes in Recovery 6k”. Two hundred and fifty plus runners and walkers, as well as over 40 volunteers turned out to “Help Break the Stigma”! We had wonderful weather and everyone stayed to cheer on our winner’s, as our house band rocked the park! The day was full of great moments like a patient winning his age group, and a proud mother standing by him saying… “A month ago, I could have never pictured this.” Thank you to the race committee for bringing this unique event to our location, and thank you to our volunteers for making this event shine. The “Break The Stigma” message was clear for all to hear and embrace, and our charity beneficiary, “Prodigal Child”, will make wonderful use of the funds raised. Thank you alumni for all your support and participation in this meaningful event.

Our year concludes with a call for service. Foundations Roswell is collecting new and slightly used toy items for “Foster Cares Support Foundations”. The foundation supports the foster cared children of North Georgia and is headquartered in Roswell. These toys collected will be ready for all the kids newly coming into foster care in the new year, many of which did not have a Christmas. Simply bring a toy to Foundations Roswell at 114 Sloan Street, between now and January 11th. Here is a list of donation items needed. We are collecting from the “Toy Items” list.

http://www.fostercares.org/Donate/DonateItems/tabid/66/Default.aspx

Remember we are collecting slightly used items as well. The center has said toys for those under the age of three, sporting equipment and dolls of all ethnicities are there highest need.

In conclusion please remember during this holiday season you are never alone. You are a part of the Foundations Recovery Network Alumni Family. Our websites and blogs are full of great supportive stories, and our Alumni Help Desk is manned with someone who cares. If you need support simply call,

1-877-714-1322.

Happy Holidays Everyone.

The last time Stephen was admitted (yep, the sixth!), something was a little different. He seemed paler, weaker, a bit reticent and withdrawn. He shared that during his last relapse he had suffered a heart attack. He was close, but not entirely ready, to surrender. Our staff encouraged Stephen to open up, to share, to contribute and participate. But ultimately we knew that it was up to Stephen to find his way, face his fears, and to fill the gap in his soul.

Back to the hand-written letter from Stephen. He wanted to let us know that he was finally “getting it.” He wanted to share that he had a sponsor, was working the steps for the first time, and was grateful for the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth chances he had been given. He was being truthful with himself for the first time in a very long time. Stephen apologized for his disrespect and indifference for our program. He apologized for not taking the program seriously, and for “wasting our time.”

But in truth, our time was not wasted. Stephen gave us a gift, an opportunity to persevere and persist, to recognize and honor the weakness and fragility within us all. Stephen’s journey is a reminder to never give up, to never lose hope, and to believe in the miracle.

We are grateful that Stepehen is finding his way and for sending his heartfelt letter!