InAngel'sArms Push for Non-Profit!
Donation protected
“Addiction is like the house on a nice street that used to look so beautiful on the outside. Over the past few years, it has become dilapidated, worn down, tarnished. The lawn and gardens are overgrown and full of weeds. The shutters have fallen off the windows, and if you think the outside is bad, you should see what’s going on inside. The family and friends of an addict are the neighboring homes. Their houses still look nice, put together, habitable, but by virtue of living next door to a war zone disguised as a house, their property values fall alongside it.”
…
“And if addiction is the dilapidated house on a nice street, then heaven must be the most beautiful mansion any of us have ever seen. I imagine every soul that we have lost coming out on to the lawn, arms out stretched to greet the newest resident as they arrive. Tupac talked about “Thugs Mansion”, where he imagined all of the gang bangers and G’s would go when they died. “Ain’t no heaven for a thug”, he rapped. I picture Addict’s Mansion the same way."
-"The House That Addiction Built, Lauren Goodkin
We dream often about a place where addicts can go, not in heaven or where ever we may go in the afterlife, but here on earth. We dream about an organization that meets addicts where they are. Where we don’t punish relapses with expulsion from treatment, but rather with increased therapies and assessments of what triggered that dirty drug screen in the first place.
We dream of a comprehensive program that begins at the beginning of recovery, with detoxes modeled after spas, not prisons. A proper medical detox is followed by a MINIMUM of thirty days of inpatient treatment, followed by a truly INTENSIVE Outpatient Program, sober housing full of useful amenities including gym memberships and job coaching, all the way into introductory employment opportunities within the organization.
This kind of all inclusive program is what we believe breeds success in sobriety. Long term recovery is born out of long term, comprehensive treatment. But we’ve got a long way to go before we get there.
In Angel’s Arms is proud to announce that our organization will be incorporating in the state of Connecticut in our first steps to becoming a 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Non Profit Organization. This process, unfortunately, is costly, and we are requesting your help.
In Angel’s Arms has accomplished a great deal of work in the past year. We started off 2017 with our first Overdose Prevention Workshop, leading into six months of monthly workshops each focused on a different topic as it relates to substance abuse and mental health. These workshops were facilitated by our Executive Director who herself is in active recovery, Lauren Goodkin, alongside qualified nursing staff when discussing topics related to overdose and First Aid.
Lauren has spoken to two consecutive eighth grade classes at North Haven Middle School over the course of two academic years. She was also featured as a panelist at the FBI presentation of Chasing the Dragon alongside several industry experts. Lauren will be expanding into school systems in neighboring towns in the 2018-2019 academic year.
In addition to her hands-on work in prevention with our youth, Lauren has been a fierce advocate since her first stretch of recovery before she even had her 21st birthday, appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America and Nightline, as well as in many local publications both in print and on screen over the past decade.
In Angel’s Arms is just getting started with the wide array of work our organization plans to do going forward. We are asking for your help to get this organization off the ground, so that it can gain Non-Profit status and open the door to increased donation as well as federal grant money.
Let’s be clear: The Opioid Epidemic is a battle that will not be won using old strategies. We will not arrest our way out of this public health crisis, nor will we conquer it with outdated treatment strategies or by throwing addicts out of treatment when they need it most. We will not reduce the stigma until we come together as a community to fight this epidemic where it lives, in the shadows and dark corners within each one of our families.
At this point in time, everyone knows someone who has been affected by this epidemic. Everyone knows someone who has lost someone to this insidious disease. Please help us to keep fighting, to continue to help educate and advocate, and to save as many lives as we can through promotion of harm reduction strategies and working to reduce the stigma.
These are some of the expenses your donation dollars will help cover:
-Corporation Filing Fee with the State of Connecticut: $50
-Tax Exemption IRS Form 1023 Filing Fee: $600
-Charitable Organization Registration Application Filing Fee: $50
These are some of the programs we plan to launch in the next year if we can raise enough capital to do so:
-Re-establish FREE Monthly Workshops/Support Meetings for families/loved ones
-Establish FREE Monthly Informational Groups for those struggling with active addiction to share resources and options
-Establish FREE Monthly Workshops/Support Groups for recovering addicts
-Create dialogue around Family Planning in active addiction and in recovery, including making connections for long term birth control for women
-Hold multiple yearly Narcan/Overdose Prevention Trainings
-Start one or more Twelve Step Meetings with open philosophies geared toward anyone struggling with any addiction to any substance or behavior without prejudice
-Allow our staff to speak in more schools on issues of substance abuse, mental health, behavioral issues, and trauma
-Allow our staff to continue to spread the message and provide advocacy and education in as many areas as possible
These are some of our long-term goals:
-Comprehensive Sober Housing for women and men
-Intensive Outpatient Program
-Inpatient Facility that encourages long term treatment
-Medical detox that is comfortable and doesn’t feel like jail
-Hire people in recovery whenever possible to help them get back into the workforce and allow them to help others do the same
We offer our deepest gratitude to everyone who had donated in the past, and who is currently donating to help us reach out
…
“And if addiction is the dilapidated house on a nice street, then heaven must be the most beautiful mansion any of us have ever seen. I imagine every soul that we have lost coming out on to the lawn, arms out stretched to greet the newest resident as they arrive. Tupac talked about “Thugs Mansion”, where he imagined all of the gang bangers and G’s would go when they died. “Ain’t no heaven for a thug”, he rapped. I picture Addict’s Mansion the same way."
-"The House That Addiction Built, Lauren Goodkin
We dream often about a place where addicts can go, not in heaven or where ever we may go in the afterlife, but here on earth. We dream about an organization that meets addicts where they are. Where we don’t punish relapses with expulsion from treatment, but rather with increased therapies and assessments of what triggered that dirty drug screen in the first place.
We dream of a comprehensive program that begins at the beginning of recovery, with detoxes modeled after spas, not prisons. A proper medical detox is followed by a MINIMUM of thirty days of inpatient treatment, followed by a truly INTENSIVE Outpatient Program, sober housing full of useful amenities including gym memberships and job coaching, all the way into introductory employment opportunities within the organization.
This kind of all inclusive program is what we believe breeds success in sobriety. Long term recovery is born out of long term, comprehensive treatment. But we’ve got a long way to go before we get there.
In Angel’s Arms is proud to announce that our organization will be incorporating in the state of Connecticut in our first steps to becoming a 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Non Profit Organization. This process, unfortunately, is costly, and we are requesting your help.
In Angel’s Arms has accomplished a great deal of work in the past year. We started off 2017 with our first Overdose Prevention Workshop, leading into six months of monthly workshops each focused on a different topic as it relates to substance abuse and mental health. These workshops were facilitated by our Executive Director who herself is in active recovery, Lauren Goodkin, alongside qualified nursing staff when discussing topics related to overdose and First Aid.
Lauren has spoken to two consecutive eighth grade classes at North Haven Middle School over the course of two academic years. She was also featured as a panelist at the FBI presentation of Chasing the Dragon alongside several industry experts. Lauren will be expanding into school systems in neighboring towns in the 2018-2019 academic year.
In addition to her hands-on work in prevention with our youth, Lauren has been a fierce advocate since her first stretch of recovery before she even had her 21st birthday, appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America and Nightline, as well as in many local publications both in print and on screen over the past decade.
In Angel’s Arms is just getting started with the wide array of work our organization plans to do going forward. We are asking for your help to get this organization off the ground, so that it can gain Non-Profit status and open the door to increased donation as well as federal grant money.
Let’s be clear: The Opioid Epidemic is a battle that will not be won using old strategies. We will not arrest our way out of this public health crisis, nor will we conquer it with outdated treatment strategies or by throwing addicts out of treatment when they need it most. We will not reduce the stigma until we come together as a community to fight this epidemic where it lives, in the shadows and dark corners within each one of our families.
At this point in time, everyone knows someone who has been affected by this epidemic. Everyone knows someone who has lost someone to this insidious disease. Please help us to keep fighting, to continue to help educate and advocate, and to save as many lives as we can through promotion of harm reduction strategies and working to reduce the stigma.
These are some of the expenses your donation dollars will help cover:
-Corporation Filing Fee with the State of Connecticut: $50
-Tax Exemption IRS Form 1023 Filing Fee: $600
-Charitable Organization Registration Application Filing Fee: $50
These are some of the programs we plan to launch in the next year if we can raise enough capital to do so:
-Re-establish FREE Monthly Workshops/Support Meetings for families/loved ones
-Establish FREE Monthly Informational Groups for those struggling with active addiction to share resources and options
-Establish FREE Monthly Workshops/Support Groups for recovering addicts
-Create dialogue around Family Planning in active addiction and in recovery, including making connections for long term birth control for women
-Hold multiple yearly Narcan/Overdose Prevention Trainings
-Start one or more Twelve Step Meetings with open philosophies geared toward anyone struggling with any addiction to any substance or behavior without prejudice
-Allow our staff to speak in more schools on issues of substance abuse, mental health, behavioral issues, and trauma
-Allow our staff to continue to spread the message and provide advocacy and education in as many areas as possible
These are some of our long-term goals:
-Comprehensive Sober Housing for women and men
-Intensive Outpatient Program
-Inpatient Facility that encourages long term treatment
-Medical detox that is comfortable and doesn’t feel like jail
-Hire people in recovery whenever possible to help them get back into the workforce and allow them to help others do the same
We offer our deepest gratitude to everyone who had donated in the past, and who is currently donating to help us reach out
Organizer
Lauren Goodkin
Organizer
North Haven, CT
