For nearly 20 years, the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation has been a proud supporter of the YWCA Northeast Indiana. The agency’s track record of helping vulnerable women rebuild their lives after accessing health and wellness services has inspired that support. Funding for the Hope & Harriet program has been a primary focus of our support.

Hope & Harriet is an intensive residential treatment program of the YWCA for women struggling with substance use disorder. Abstinence from substance use, self-sufficiency, and rebuilding healthy family relationships are just a few of the program’s goals. In the fall of 2022, St. Joe supported the Hope & Harriet program with a $35,000 grant. The YWCA shared Alyssa’s story to demonstrate this program’s impact on people’s lives. 

Alyssa is 24 years old and was admitted into the Hope & Harriet program on November 30, 2022. Alyssa began drinking daily when she was 14 years old and began using cocaine when she was 18. Before coming to Hope & Harriet, she had been sober for 95 days. While at Hope & Harriet, Alyssa showed her strengths: determination, confidence, working hard, giving, honesty, and optimism. She identified and demonstrated her powers by building her self-esteem and completing participation in several groups, including Addiction and Recovery, Healthy Relationships, Seeking Safety, career and financial classes, Getting Ahead in a Just Getting by World, and music therapy. While she completed an intensive outpatient program through Park Center, Alyssa obtained a sponsor to help her understand the addiction disease and work through the 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous. Alyssa rebuilt her relationship with her father, obtained her driver’s license, and purchased a vehicle. Alyssa also received employment at a restaurant on January 16, 2023, and maintained a job throughout her stay in the program. She opened her first bank account and saved funds to promote self-sufficiency and independence. All of Alyssa’s drug screens came back negative for all substances while in the Hope & Harriet program. Alyssa successfully completed the program on April 26, 2023 and was discharged to her own apartment for the first time, with six months of sobriety under her belt. Alyssa continues to work with the YWCA by receiving case management through the outpatient case management program as well.