Dear colleagues and friends,
I want to spend just a moment sharing a bit of my own personal story, in hopes that you will better understand the level of passion and commitment I have not only to New Directions for Women as an organization, but also to each and every woman who enters the doors of our facility and my desire for each of them to have a recovery journey that lasts them a lifetime.
At the age of fifteen, I learned that addiction was a disease when I myself entered a treatment center in Bel Air, Maryland, where I could recover from my own alcoholism and addiction. Today, I am a recovering alcoholic and addict with thirty seven years of continuous recovery. So, as a recovering woman, I am passionate about helping other women find the joy and blessings in life I have received. I have dedicated the last thirty five years of my life to helping women and their families that suffer from this disease. I would not have had these wonderful years without the assistance and support from my loving family.
I have been blessed for the last nine years to be the Chief Executive Officer of New Directions for Women, a facility that was created by three courageous recovering women that had a desire to create a tranquil home-like environment where women could begin their recovery journey with dignity and respect. Almost four decades later, we continue to be able to transform the lives of many women, families, and children that enter our threshold. Today our mission is to provide quality addiction treatment services to women of all ages, pregnant women and women with children predominantly in Southern California as well as throughout the state and around the nation. Our goal is to save lives, heal generations and create a sober world.
For me, New Directions is the cocoon that allows for the metamorphosis and transformation of the caterpillars that enter our facility to turn into beautiful monarchs. We help them live lives free of addiction for themselves, for their loved ones, and allow generations to be transformed.
In our nation today, there areover 23 million addicted people suffering from this disease and only 10% of those individuals will access care this year. As of 2013, as I write this letter, New Directions for Women has only 24 licensed residential beds on our campus. New Directions for Women has developed a physical plant master plan that will allow us to provide a seamless continuum of care to women of all ages, pregnant women, and women with children who suffer from the devastating disease of addiction. When it is completed, approximately five years from now, New Directions for Women will go from being a 30 bed residential facility to a 52 bed facility. We will go from being able to accommodate 6 children to being able to accommodate 15 children staying on campus while their mothers are receiving treatment. The facility itself will increase its space from 10,000 sq. feet to 30,000 sq. feet. We are building a sanctuary to care for women with this chronic, fatal yet treatable disease so that she may heal her body, mind, and spirit as a mother, wife, sister, friend, and daughter and that she and other women like her will no longer need to suffer in silence.
My hope and prayer is that amongst all of our wonderful supporters and from others that they know, we will be able to make our vision a reality so that hundreds if not thousands of lives over the next generation can be healed and families transformed from the devastations of this disease. We ask you to join us today in making our expansion possible and our entire sanctuary a reality by joining us not only in giving money but of your time to make this capital campaign a success over the next five years. Please reach out to me at 949.313.1192 or rflood@newdirectionsforwomen.org if you would like to help, or find out more information.
In service,
CEO
