Year’s major challenges overcome by greater good

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Ashley Miller, Executive Director, 2014 Graduate of Lifeline

Most of us can identify with the popular 2020 meme of Reese Witherspoon transforming from the perky “Legally Blonde” Elle Woods in January to her haggard character, real-life Cheryl Strayed in “Wild,” by August.

Understatement: It’s been a tough year.

But, oh, my, how we’ve been blessed this year at Lifeline! As I near the end of my first year as the executive director, I stand amazed at what Lifeline has accomplished during the pandemic.

During an economic recession, Lifeline has managed to raise more money than ever at our virtual annual banquet and golf tournament (pages 4-7). Donations, which we expected to falter as church services were canceled and people were out of work, have come in at a faster-than-usual rate, with more donated in nine months than in all of 2019.

Simply put, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Your generosity has allowed us to carry on, working every day to fulfill our mission of providing faith-based recovery for those struggling with addiction.

As a result of your faithful support and the commitment from our staff and volunteers, we have exciting results to share: 53 individuals celebrated completion of the program at our October graduation, and 120 have enrolled since January 2020.

Read the story of one of our graduates, Matt Morehead, on page 13. He completed the program in June and has already started his own excavating business.

We also have recently tracked the success of graduates from the 2018-2019 year. Of 49 who completed the program then, 31 are still sober after one year. That represents a 63 percent success rate, up from our last calculation.

Read about the success of graduate Kim Cooper, now program coordinator on the women’s campus, on page 5. Like 63 percent of her fellow graduates, she has celebrated that one-year sobriety anniversary and feels her life has changed, noting she has replaced “old ways of thinking with new positive thoughts and actions.”

I cited Isaiah 43:2 at the recent graduation ceremony: “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.”

Our graduates have been through the fire. 1 Peter 5:10: “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace…will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

We thank God for his grace this year, allowing Lifeline to continue to restore lives and transform our community.

Ashley Miller, Executive Director