We believe that small, intentionally personal, long-term and Christ-centered living space is needed to truly ground women in their recovery. Because of this, Beneath the Shade will be privately funded. We are seeking individuals, businesses, and churches who are willing to partner with us as we follow God’s heart towards wholeness for a group of women who need His grace and abundance so desperately.

 

It is vital that the length of time each woman stays with us isn’t determined by an insurance company or by what she can afford. Our average length of stay is fourteen months with the option to extend to eighteen if the individual needs that.

 

Many women successfully complete rehab programs only to return to toxic living environments, which makes it extremely difficult for many to stay sober. The need for additional long-term, strategic, Christ-centered and relational services, is immense.

 

Drug & Alcohol Addiction in Women

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Depression, lack of self-worth, stress, and instability can all be major contributing factors in a woman’s desire to use drugs and alcohol. Sarah Kovach, clinical manager at Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, Florida, says “We know that women have unique challenges when they come to treatment,” she says. “They often have to leave their families behind, and encouraging women to focus on themselves is a struggle because our culture continues to sanction such behavior as selfish.”

 

Stephanie Covington in A Woman’s Way Through the Twelve Steps, states, “Society judges women with addiction more severely.” For a long time, women suffering from addiction were as good as invisible. It wasn’t until the 1960s that women’s addictions even began to be openly discussed. It was illegal in the United States until the 1950s to show a woman drinking in a movie or an advertisement. This isn’t because women did not drink, it is because we didn’t want to see women drinking. According to Dr. Covington, female addicts often have histories that include three elements: substance abuse since early adolescence, developmental delays caused by damaging relationships, and multiple traumas, which often include physical and sexual abuse. Women recover in environments that facilitate healing—that are characterized by safety, connection, and empowerment.

 

Relational Wounding & Healing

 

Our most significant wounds happen in relationship with others. Many women start using substances to feel connected with addicted lovers or they drink because their boyfriends urge them to. Addicted women’s lives are full of men who to disappoint them, who don’t provide for their children, who go to jail. And these aspects only scratch the surface of how addiction and relationship are connected.

 

Doesn’t it make sense that our healing and restoration must also happen in relationship? But a different kind of relationship. One based on the trust, safety, compassion, empathy, and grace that enable us to reveal our true selves to one another, imperfections and all. We believe that true healing and freedom can only be found inside a relationship with our loving Creator and the community that comes along with that vital relationship.