Presentation - April 17, 2015
Jody Davis, a member of the New Britain Rotary Club, of Coram Deo visited our club today.
Jody shared her story of a challenging youth and how it brought her to decide to begin helping women in recovery.
After high school she had several jobs in social services that changed her path in life. She found that sober houses were available and were just "good enough". She and her husband felt compelled to make a difference and founded Sarah's House in 2006. There goal was to take care of the women they served and bring a quality experienced in housing and build a network around their clients to help them recover. They have found that 83% of their clients suffer from some sort of abuse.
There is a cycle in the system; 5 to 7 days of detox, then inpatient stays for 28 days. Typical sober houses are in areas where drugs are rampant. Coram Deo searches for neighborhoods where their clients can live away from those temptations.
There are some rules for the clients. They must be sober and after an initial entry period, must pay for their bed. This currently contributes 42% of the organization's budget and gives the ladies a sense of ownership of their recovery.
The ladies have had little or no stability in their lives. Coram Deo gives them stability and a quality of life. To find out more about this organization, you can access their website at www.CoramDeoRecovery.org. Jody also invited the club to consider joining them at their annual fundraiser banquet this September 23. Information is on the website or you can call Kevin Colvin at 860.416.0210.
Presentation - April 10
Don Bonner introduced Iran Izario, Program Director of Compass Youth Collaborative. They have been reaching out to youth in Hartford for 20 years. They are working to reduce the dropout rate for middle and high school youth. They have found that engaging youth at school is only part of the answer. Many of the young people are facing violence and abuse at home and are subject to gang violence as well. Compass is providing a network of options for these young vulnerable kids. The organization is dedicated to keeping youth safe. Iran shared stories of his troubled youth and how a couple of mentors helped him see that there was more to life.
He has dedicated his life to changing the paths of youths of similar experience.
For more information the website is www.compassyc.org.
