It's OFFICIAL!

I am so excited - what has been a heart project of mine for years is finally here!

I'm proud to announce that Shining Strong is officially a Non-Profit Corporation!

Shining Strong is named for (and inspired by) my Dad, who dedicated much of his life to giving back to the communities he served.

It is my honor to be part of the recovery community, and it has always been a heart song of mine to break through stigma and denial and help women see break free of the chains of alcoholism and addiction, which are so often rooted in shame.

I carry no shame about being an alcoholic in recovery.  Recovery has given me more gifts than I could ever repay in a thousand lifetimes.  The people I have met, the support, love and encouragement we give each other - both in person and online - is like nothing I've ever seen or experienced.

Everyone has a picture in their head about what an active alcoholic looks like.  The stigma surrounding addiction and the popular (but misinformed) thought that addiction is a matter of will power (or lack thereof) keeps so many people stuck and alone.

You want to know what recovery looks like?  THIS:

Compassionate. Graceful. Introspective. Dedicated. Hard Working. Funny. Smart. Creative. FREE.

These are the words I use to describe alcoholics in recovery.  Yep - we're still alcoholics, but we have faced harder truths about ourselves than most people have to face in a lifetime. Day by day we beat back a disease of the mind and body that killed the majority of people who had it only decades ago.  It stills kills more people than it spares.

How do we fix that?

TOGETHER.

Together we link arms - those in recovery and those who haven't been personally touched by addiction but want to help us break down this damn stigma and spread light and understanding.

THIS is Shining Strong's mission, and I have two lovely, smart, funny, talented recovering women of grace and honor helping me run it.  I am so blessed.

So will you do us a favor? Will you share this post? Will you ask people to watch the video below to see firsthand the heartache, and then the freedom of addiction?  Will you ask them to look into the faces of real recovering women so they can see for themselves that the stigma is WRONG.

You never know who you may be helping. Your neighbor, a friend, perhaps even a family member or total stranger who is living in the silence, darkness and pain of addiction.

Let's show them there is hope.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart: