Participants

Our facility participants range from age 18 to over 70 and are of diverse ethnic backgrounds. They have been in recovery at the residential facility for at least one year, and are in the re-entry stage of their treatment. They are sober, and are actively receiving job training or seeking employment, in counseling, and, in many cases, working on the reunification of their families. Most women who complete The Circle of Women program leave the facility shortly afterwards to live with their families and contribute to our communities.

The pictures below of recent program participants, were photographed by volunteer Lisa Leavitt.

Xenia
"[Being with] the women of A More Perfect Union] made me feel that I wasn't all that strange. It helped me to be able to communicate in making myself see me as not that much different from other people, other women in particular."

Kim
"It made me...understand that everyone is not like me or I'm not like everyone, to accept myself for who I am. Most people, if we can communicate, we can get along. I can accept some of the women in my life that are not perfect. It strengthened my relationships as far as men [are concerned] to know that I am a very strong woman and I don't have to depend on them, that I can do this."

Lisa
"Basically [what I liked the most about A More Perfect Union was] the women coming in, sharing their experiences with life and us relating to it. I enjoyed it all. It made me more understanding of them and knowing that we have more or less the same issues -- it doesn't matter what walk of life you came from. And, I'm much better equipped to ask for and receive support from other women!"