The Crowd: New Directions for Women gathers for 14th annual Circle of Life Breakfast
Organizers billed the gathering as the Circle of Life Breakfast. Why? Because it takes a circle of lives — mentors, counselors and loving souls — to help those fighting addiction to find a path to sobriety, recovery and renewed life.
This O.C. Circle of Life, the 14th annual, is specifically a circle around women fighting addiction disease. Women of all ages, races, ethnicities and cultures. Married women, single women, women with children and pregnant women. All of them.
The organization behind the cause is the appropriately named New Directions for Women. The breakfast confab held March 17 at Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach welcomed some 400 guests who came with serious purpose. Most all had a very personal connection to the fight for sobriety.
Many women were directly touched by addiction. The men in the crowd shared the serious connection, perhaps not equally, but certainly by great degree. All shared the experience of suffering in quiet desperation before finding a way out of addiction. Men coping with wives addicted to alcohol and/or drugs ask, “How could it happen to my wife?”
Clearly, it happens. And it happens fast for some, often resulting from trauma or tragedy. Another’s journey may consume years of worsening struggle.
Then what? Where do the women go? What help exists? Fortunately, today there is help. In 1977, when New Directions for Women was founded by women searching for answers, including one of the primary founders, Pamela Wilder, who rallied the Junior League of Orange County to step up and create an affordable rehabilitation treatment program when none existed in the O.C. Wilder was joined by founders Marion Shoen, Muriel Zink and Betty Ford in turning vision into reality.
The inspiration of the founders has carried forward some 45 years. NDFW board member and major donor Carole Pickup opened the circle of life celebration this year with heartfelt words of invocation. Carole joined daughter Devon Martin, her husband Kevin Martin, Carole’s son Todd Pickup and his wife Natalie in supporting the cause.
As the Balboa Bay Resort staff served breakfast, event master of ceremonies Mark Thomas led a succession of tributes and personal testimonials both on video format playing on large screens, as well as in person at the podium. Personal comments came from Lori Butler, NDFW Foundation director of development, Deborah Byers, representing the Faith Strong Family, and Barbara Wiggs-Nelson, chair of the NDFW Foundation.
The messages continued on video as alumnae of NDFW programs became very personal sharing their different stories of survival. Seemingly as if by magic, the women on video then appeared in person at the podium, recounting their circle of life recovery with the audience.
Two women, Emily Jackson and Sophie Pyne left their hearts on that stage. The ladies were the reason 400 donors came for breakfast raising upward of $500,000 to fund the needs of the Costa Mesa residential rehabilitation center that houses and treats women for months, and some for a year or more, with a success rate far better than the national average.
Guests on hand for the special morning included Rick and Tracy Weiner, Joe Moody with Carolyn Davenport, Jill Meer and Sandra Thompson, president elect Junior League of Orange County. Honored donors Susan Meeks, Howard and Katherine Bland, Judy Elmore and Steve and Lisa Mihaylo were also among the attendees. Also front and center were Douglas Kerr, Gianna Drake-Kerrison, Karen Stockman, Dan Carracino, Rebecca Flood, the Dr. Rev. Charles Dorsey, Dr. Ruth Stafford, Mimi Ahn and David Likens, interim executive director of NDFW.
“Since its doors opened in 1977, New Directions for Women has helped some 6,000 women and more than 600 children belonging to those women,” said NDFW spokesperson Barbara Kimler. “They have all lived on campus. In addition, more than 200 children have been born to mothers completing their comprehensive program.”
To learn more, visit newdirectionsforwomen.org.
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