By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
With one of the group’s goals within reach, Together We Hurt Together We Heal made a huge announcement Tuesday night at their fifth annual fundraiser.
During the fundraiser Mary Jo Carle and David Lauthers made the announcement that Together We Hurt Together We Heal had identified a property and is in the process of purchasing it to use as a recovery house. Carle, who has worked for 32 years as a licensed chemical dependency counselor, explained the function of the recovery house would work.
“We are completing the groundwork of the paperwork now it will be located at the east end of Bucyrus. It will house four to five men in recovery. We will have a house manager that will be there with the men 24 hours, seven (days a week) as we help them transition on into their recovery,” Carle said. “Everybody that applies for admission and is interviewed and accepted will be agreeing to adhere to the rules and regulations of the recovery house. They will continue working on a 12-step group, they will engage in a faith-based group and there will be several other requirements that will be made of them.”
“Our goal is to have a well maintained and managed home in the neighborhood, and our men will assist neighbors as needed,” Carle added. “We are also going to be involved in Neighborhood Watch, and National Night Out. We will be going to all the communities in Crawford County and do volunteer community work. This is a recovery house for the whole community, not just Bucyrus, but all of Crawford County.”
While the recovery house will be open to just men Carle points out that the group hopes to have a recovery house for women in the near future.
“We want to get our men’s house up and running and get all the cricks out of it,” Carle said. “When you do anything new there is always something that you didn’t plan for. So once this one is up and running smoothly then yes we want to address a house for women and their children, but that will be down the road in a couples of years.”
The recovery house will be called the Sycamore House. Carle explained to those at the fundraiser that it is named after the Sycamore Tree due to the tree being a sign representing protection strength and divinity.
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Recovery Ally Lori Criss spoke at the event. During her speech Criss noted that it was important to acknowledge the strength, grace, and humility when people are going through recovery. During her speech Criss noted that having affordable housing was imperative for stability for some people when going through recovery.
“It’s not just a house but the structure within the house that helps towards long term recovery,” Criss said.
A recovery panel of Josh Spears, Sean Mills, and “Mr. Insanity” Toby Klein spoke before those at the fundraiser. During their panel Spears, Mills, and Klein spoke of their path to addiction and journey through recovery.
Mandy Knight of the Crawford County Prevention Program and the “TI” Kids gave a presentation of how the Teen Institute interacts with each of the county’s schools with events and workshops in order to help the students stay drug free.
The event finished with a donation drive for Together We Hurt Together We Heal.
For more information on Together We Hurt Together We Heal call (419)689-6427 visit their website at www.twhtwh.com or email togetherwehurt_togetherweheal@yahoo.com.