How it started
In February, 2007, the Executive Director and several other Ann Arbor, Michigan women recovering from alcohol or drug addiction attended the 43rd annual International Women's AA Conference in nearby Detroit. This conference and other events for recovering women (e.g., retreats) cost more than many women in early sobriety can afford. Yet, such events are a crucial "booster" to a woman's sobriety. She sees women laughing, connecting and having fun. She sees that life without alcohol and drugs can be good as she listens to the stories of women of varied economic and ethnic backgrounds. She begins to have hope.
The idea forms
The existing Executive Board members had help plan and conduct an AA Women's Retreat the prior August, and had witnessed similar awakenings in many newly sober women. At the Detroit International Women's AA Conference, these women saw again the power of such events. The Executive Director began to wonder how to provide support to sober women who could not afford to attend such events. She knew it would take money and organization to achieve this goal.
Provide a Bridge
Many women in addiction treatment (rehab) programs are required to attend AA or NA meetings and other sober events with recovering women. In some cases, they cannot advance to the next step in the program until they achieve a certain number of such activities. Yet, most of these women enter treatment programs heavily dependent on men and friends who themselves are alcoholic or drug-addicted. It is difficult for newly sober women to form new social links with healthy recovering women. Too many women leave the safe "nest" of rehab only to return to their old social networks and relapse into addiction.
Twelve Step Traditions
It should be noted that AA and NA are prohibited from organizing any support activities outside of its traditions; thus, AA cannot organize or conduct retreats, social events, and many other supportive functions. The initial goal became to create, free of charge, powerful networking activities that would support a healthy, sober life for recovering women.
Higher Power
In AA and NA we speak of a "higher power" that cares for our lives. This power was surely present as the Executive Director stood in line to buy an audiotape of one of the Detroit conference's main speakers. She began to chat with the woman in front of her and shared the idea of funding women's attendance at such events. The woman said, "Please come and meet my mother; I think she would be very interested." The mother (Ms. Negley) agreed readily to allocate some of her extensive foundation funds to our cause, and asked for a brief proposal.