SHE RECOVERS Foundation

The Foundation's overarching goals and objectives are:

1. Provide women from diverse backgrounds increased access to communities of recovery support both online and in person

2. Help women build recovery capital by introducing or providing recovery resources necessary to cultivate individualized and holistic recovery practices

3. Reduce the stigma related to women and recovery through public awareness programs and education of key policymakers, stakeholders and the general public.

4. Contribute to a growing evidence base that shows the efficacy of non-traditional recovery practices

5. Be a trusted source of information for all women in or seeking recovery

CONNECT:
Build a strong, diverse and effective volunteer network of online and local community peer-based and peer-led recovery support groups and programs, ensuring the movement is inclusive of all women.

Vetted and trained volunteers will provide women in or seeking recovery safe and welcoming environments to join together online and “in real life” to provide each other emotional and social support.

SUPPORT:
Help women build recovery capital by introducing or providing recovery resources necessary to cultivate individualized and holistic recovery practices.

Expand In-Person Events to Increase Women’s Recovery Capital: Women are invited to strengthen their recovery capital at in-person workshops and events by fostering relationships, engaging in introspection, sharing their experiences with one another, learning how to practice radical self-care, etc. The Foundation will increase event access by considering locations, cost, topics, and programming designed to meet the needs of diverse communities.

Create Resource-Rich Online Platforms: Emerging evidence reveals women are reaching out in greater numbers to connect with and receive support for various behavioral health issues online. The Foundation will strengthen and grow online programming for women to find encouragement, learn about resources, and get answers to specific behavioral-health-related questions.

Build Capacity to Support Women in Recovery: The Foundation is strengthening the behavioral health workforce by training volunteers to become certified as recovery coaches, trauma-informed yoga instructors, and healing dance modality instructors.

EMPOWER:
Reduce the stigma related to women and recovery through public awareness programs and education of key policymakers, stakeholders and the general public while contributing to a growing evidence base showing the efficacy of non-traditional recovery practices.

Raising Public Awareness through Advocacy and Education: Volunteers will serve as local advocates to combat negative public attitudes, educate policymakers and improve support for recovery in their communities. They will increase public awareness of issues and challenges facing women in recovery.

Unlocking Transformational Outcomes: By advancing research on modalities yielding transformational outcomes for women in recovery. Through collaborative relationships with reputable behavioral health and recovery research institutions and program evaluators, data will be collected to support program development, activities and resources for the women we serve.

ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY: The organization’s greatest asset, thus capability, is its dynamic and devoted community. More than 325,000 women in or seeking recovery utilize SHE RECOVERS platforms. Coaches currently host 33 in-person Sharing Circles throughout the USA, UK, Canada, France and Australia, and today volunteer to facilitate 2 one-hour teleconference meetings daily to support the community. The volunteer support by members of the community during this unprecedented time has been indicative of the deep commitment these women have to volunteerism.

LEADERSHIP: The organization has retained visionary leaders all of whom are in long-term recovery and have exceptional experience and leadership skills in organizational development and non-profit management. This is an essential capability to recognize the growth and sustainability necessary for the organization to fulfill its mission.

Dr. Dawn Nickel, Founder and Board Chair, the visionary who began the SHE RECOVERS movement, is trained as a Certified Professional Recovery Coach and holds a PhD in health care policy, with a focus on women who experience issues related to mental health, addiction and intimate partner violence. As a passionate proponent of evidence-informed policy and practice, her areas of content expertise include: women and behavioral health disorders, addiction and recovery; mental health, healthy aging including age-friendly communities; end-of-life care; gender and caregiving; supporting children, youth and families with complex needs; organizational behavior; knowledge workforce of the future, and change management.

Taryn Strong, Founder and Board Vice-Chair, known as a key influencer in the cyber-sober world, dedicates herself to helping women shine from the inside out. Following 13 years of training and certifications, she has developed a unique “Yoga for Recovery” program integrating yoga and meditation with spirituality and recovery principles from a wide variety of recovery pathways.

Susan Carter, Executive Director, a senior leader in non-profit organizations, helped launch the global movement in the fight against breast cancer as a founding employee and chief architect of all marketing, branding, and communications for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Following Komen, Susan became CEO of the Arthritis Foundation, South Central Region where she oversaw operations of the $7.3 million nonprofit organization in a three-state area including Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Payton Kennedy, Director, Volunteer Network and Foundation Events
Payton has 20 years of experience in event planning and operations, has been an integral part of creating organizational structure, and policy & procedures for events and retreats. She is a yoga teacher and creator of SHE RECOVERS DANCE, promoting self-discovery, body positivity, freedom, joy and empowerment.

The Foundation is a natural outgrowth of the success of the SHE RECOVERS passion project, initiated by a mother and her daughter in 2011. What started out as a Facebook page has now become an online international movement of women in or seeking recovery from substance use disorders, other behavioral health issues and/or life challenges. Some of the Foundation’s accomplishments include:

o The SHE RECOVERS Facebook Page, created in June 2011, now has over 270,000 followers
o The SHE RECOVERS Instagram Account, created in April 2019, already has 15,000 followers
o 2,200 women have been provided in-person transformational experiences at SHE RECOVERS retreats, conferences and workshops since 2012
o 100 women have been trained and certified as SHE RECOVERS Recovery Coaches since 2017, with an additional 100 currently in training
o The SHE RECOVERS Together Private Facebook Group was formed in January 2018 and now has 4,500 members. Members find encouragement, learn about novel resources and healing modalities, share success stories, and most importantly build an accessible network of support. The Group continues to grow by approximately 100 women per week
o 33 SHE RECOVERS Sharing Circles have been formed, primarily in cities across the United States and Canada but also in Paris, London and Sydney, Australia. The Circles are held in person monthly and facilitated by SHE RECOVERS Coaches. Average attendance at each Circle is between 10-20 women.
o 25 women have been trained as SHE RECOVERS Trauma Informed Yoga Instructors since October 2019
o In March 2020 SHE RECOVERS launched Together Online Zoom Gatherings – twice daily meetings. Between 120 and 160 women attend these support calls each day
o The SHE RECOVERS Podcast has had 150,000 downloads since it launched nearly weekly episodes in 2019
o SHE RECOVERS website averages 8,000 new users per month