2016 marks Amethyst’s 32nd year of saving lives, changing lives and reuniting families.
September 19, 2016, from 8:00am-10:00am, Amethyst’s 5th annual 5K Walk/Run for Recovery, “A Step in the Right Direction,” will take place at Wolfe Park in Columbus, Ohio.
Amethyst IS a Step in the Right Direction!
Who: Runners, walkers of all ages are welcome to register!
What: Walk/5K Run
When: Saturday, September 10, 2016 Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.Walk/run begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Wolfe Park Shelter House, 105 Park Drive, Columbus, OH 43209
Why: To benefit the women and children of Amethyst.All participants will receive an event t-shirt and all runners will receive timing chips. To register
www.walkforrecovery.org
A Step in the Right Direction raises awareness and increases support for the women and children of Amethyst, who were once homeless and now live each day choosing a life of recovery. Amethyst provides safe and sober housing, long-term, family-focused and gender-specific treatment, trauma and addiction counseling and employment services for approximately 150 women and 60 children each year.
(The article below by Amy Saunders, apperared in the September 12, 2013 edition of the Columbus Dispatch in it she interviewed several of Amethyst clients regarding what the 5K means to them). Sara Waters, 25, couldn’t have imagined feeling the way she does now, in November, when she was addicted to heroin and estranged from her parents. After entering the Amethyst program to appease her probation officer, she discovered the depths of her addiction and realized that she had rejected the love and support of her family. Family and friends are joining her in walking on Saturday at Wolfe Park. “It’s awesome that I can even get out and walk, and I’m not walking to get more dope,” said Waters, “I’m walking to celebrate.”
Before entering Amethyst in December, Candy Carr had smoked crack daily for eight years and was sleeping in abandoned apartments. “I wanted to die, but I was too chicken to kill myself,” said Carr, 46. “I’d go to bed praying that God would do something.” Her life, once focused on seeking the same high day after day, seems full of hope as she works toward starting a career in information technology. Amethyst, she said, gave her the confidence to believe that it was possible. “It’s like going from being blind to being able to see for the first time,” she said. “It’s the best thing that ever happened.”
How Your Support Helps
Homeless women and their families face many challenges. When the disease of addiction is coupled with homelessness, it is even more difficult for a woman to locate treatment, family services and housing. A woman motivated to simultaneously recover from addiction, trauma and homelessness deserves the recovery support that gives her the best chance at success with all of her recovery goals. This includes housing that is absent of alcohol and drugs and absent of persons that are using or active in the culture of addiction. Amethyst’s goal is to help women, children and families achieve lifelong sobriety, healthy relationships, permanent housing, and economic stability.
We combine alcohol and drug treatment with safe and sober housing for homeless women and families. Through gender-specific programs and services we give women the hope for recovery, the desire to heal their lives and the lives of their children, and the courage to ask for help. Women Centered Stigma surrounds addiction and is especially oppressive for women, leading to feelings of shame, guilt, despair and fear. These feelings often prevent women from getting the treatment they desperately need. Amethyst’s long-term, evidence-based care provides a holistic approach to healing and recovery within a community of women.
Trauma Sensitive Traumatic life experiences are common in histories of women who enter treatment. Understanding that a trauma survivor develops a “trauma lens” through which she views the world, Amethyst’s treatment environment is trauma-informed and includes clinicians trained in trauma-specific services. Family Focused Addiction affects the entire family, including children. Amethyst’s family-centered services are designed to foster a sense of safety, healing and connection for families. We help reunite mothers and children, create stable living environments and help families achieve lifelong sobriety.
Please visit
www.walkforrecovery.org to register or visit
www.amethyst-inc.org for more information on Amethyst’s life saving services. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Kay Snyder at 614.221.7293 or msnyder@amethyst-inc.org.
Thank you for your support
