Thursday, Jul 26, 2018

The Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. has received a $37,303 grant from the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation to fund the first year of a speciailzed program for young parents who are in recovery from substance use. The “Parenting Through Recovery’’ program will promote ongoing recovery and maintenance of sobriety, while increasing parenting skills.

“There is a lack of resources in Greater Lawrence to help vulnerable low-income families trying to recover from addiction,’’ said Evelyn Friedman, GLCAC’s executive director. “GLCAC is stepping up to fill this void by offering a program that will help combat the effects of substance use disorders including opioids, alcohol and all other controlled substances on families.’’

The new program will provide a holistic approach with parenting and psychosocial groups, life skills groups and case management that will make both short- and long-term impacts on families.

“This program is unique because it couples peer support sessions with practical, hands-on learning opportunities that will enable participants to parent positively, understand triggers and frustrations when parenting, and ultimately avoid recurrence of symptoms,’’ Friedman said.

GLCAC is launching this program after a successful pilot and series of focus groups with parents in recovery.  GLCAC estimates that about 60 people will participate in one of four, 12-week sessions that will be held over the course of the year. The first group is expected to start this month.

After completing the program, participants will have access to after-care services to ensure continued progress.

For more information about the program, call GLCAC at 978-620-4991.

GLCAC is a multi-faceted social services agency that assisted 32,648 individuals in 2017 through a range of programs including early childhood education, fuel assistance, WIC nutrition assistance, immigration services, lead poisoning prevention, child abuse prevention, English-language lessons, and consumer protection.