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BY PHILIP BEEBE –
The San Francisco ARC’s Pinehurst program for women recently hosted the women of the Fresno ARC Rosecrest program for a first-ever joint weekend retreat.
Starting with Friday’s Narcotics Anonymous meeting, the program continued with Bible studies and classes, included recreation time on Saturday, and ended with a special chapel on Sunday.
Thirty-two beneficiaries at-tended the retreat, with the Rosecrest women staying at Pinehurst, sleeping on cots. Although crowded, the women treated it as a “slumber party” rather than an inconvenience.
Many women made solid connections with one or more of the women from the other house. These women, at various stages in their programs, all indicated that the women they had met and the things they had shared were an important part of their weekend. Discussions of God, recovery, and changing lifestyles were some of the topics discussed, even when staff was not around!
After the retreat, one Rose-crest resident testified: “I had the most awesome experience. What makes it even more intriguing is that I was able to experience it in my sobriety. Upon my arrival in San Francisco, I was introduced to a fellow beneficiary. She was new in the program, and I was three weeks from graduation. We had so much in common…Nearing the end of our stay, she told me that she hadn’t been certain whether to stay or not, but, felt that she had to now because she could see what was waiting for her at the end of the program – a good friend and sobriety.”
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