Rebuild and recover: Mending Hearts helps women recover from substance abuse

Most women arrive at Mending Hearts Recovery with nothing but the clothes on their back and a small box of paperwork. They've hit rock bottom, completed stints in the Missouri Department of Corrections or a substance abuse treatment program, and come to the Cape Girardeau housing facility to focus on living clean and sober while easing back into everyday society.

Teresa Welch, program director at Mending Hearts, says too many women leave the DOC or treatment programs and go right back to the environments they came from -- the crack houses, the abusive boyfriends and husbands, the same old buddies they used to get high with.

"Our vision was to give them somewhere safe and supportive so they would not have to go back to those places," says Welch, adding that recovering addicts need to change their "people, places and things" if they really want to be successful.

It worked for Karen Daugherty, executive director of Mending Hearts. Her trouble with drugs started with diet pills and quickly spiraled out of control. Eventually, she sought treatment, turned herself around, became a Christian and moved from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau because she didn't know anyone here and wanted a fresh start. She has been clean for 11 years.

Later, Daugherty began working at Vision House in Cape Girardeau, where she met Welch. The two of them, along with Daugherty's daughter, also a recovering addict, opened Mending Hearts in December 2008. (Daugherty's daughter has since taken a job elsewhere.) Both Daugherty and Welch are certified as recovery support providers by the Missouri Department of Mental Health, have attended the Addictions Academy at Lincoln University and complete ongoing training with the Department of Mental Health.

Mending Hearts was built on a firm Christian foundation from the very beginning. Both Daugherty and Welch are believers, and they relied on prayers, volunteers and donations from local churches to help turn the condemned house on Henderson Avenue into the recovery house it is today.

Mending Hearts can house 12 women at one time, and between the unpaid staff of three, plus volunteers, they provide support and supervision 24/7. It's more than a halfway house where someone comes to pick up the rent each week, says Welch.

"We know they need more than that," she says. "They need support until something in their life has been changed. They need somebody who's been there, done that and can support others going through the same thing."

Though Welch says she doesn't consider herself a recovering addict, she did struggle some with alcohol years ago and was even homeless for a time.

"I had my own hangups," she says. "We all have issues; we're all recovering from something."

Mending Hearts receives some funding from a Missouri Department of Mental Health Access to Recovery Grant for housing, recovery supports, spiritual life skills and recovery counseling. Staff members provide everything from transportation to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and in-house Bible studies to help understanding financial budgeting and meetings with lawyers.

"We move into the role of family. These women have had so many people in their life who were inconsistent, and we want to be that consistency -- a safe house," says Welch.

Women apply for Mending Hearts while still in prison or a treatment program; they find out 30 to 60 days before their release whether they've been approved for the program. They stay for six months to a year, as needed -- each person's recovery is different, and some need more help than others, Daugherty and Welch explain. Clients must pay a small fee for housing and find employment within 30 days. If they relapse, they must complete treatment or prison again before reapplying to live at Mending Hearts.

"We've had a lot of women come through here. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they don't," says Welch. When clients relapse, Welch and Daugherty do their best to to assure them that they're still there for them, there's no need to be embarrassed, and they will continue praying for them.

Most of their clients come from some kind of abuse, especially child or sexual abuse.

"Many of them have never even experienced life on the same terms as what most of us would call 'normal,'" says Welch. Some have never felt unconditional care and love, so Mending Hearts tries to provide that via physical, mental and spiritual support. Oftentimes, they find that clients' addictions are the result of self-medication, or trying to numb themselves from the pain in their lives.

Daugherty and Welch are not paid, and their role is emotionally and financially taxing. They look to each other, and to God, for support.

"There's nothing we can't say to each other. We always discuss everything and take it to the Lord," says Welch. And when their clients "graduate" and find success without drugs or alcohol, it makes all their efforts worthwhile.

"These ladies -- that's what keeps us going. Helping someone else," says Welch. There's nothing like helping a former client decorate her new apartment, seeing her reunite with her children or watching her advance in her career. Some even come back to help current residents at Mending Hearts -- Daugherty and Welch call them "alumni."

"We've had some good ones," Welch says, tearing up. "It can be done. We have women here who can testify to that."

Mending Hearts can always use donations of money, food, and household and hygiene items. They also need volunteers who can help with maintenance on their home -- not to mention plenty of prayer.

For those struggling with an addiction of their own, Daugherty and Welch urge them to call a treatment center and ask for help, or call Mending Hearts so one of them can offer guidance in the right direction.

Addiction will probably touch everyone's lives in some way, either directly or indirectly, says Welch. She worries about heroin, which is becoming a growing problem, and can be fatal with only one use.

"People can be so judgmental about people in recovery," she says. "These women are all someone's wives. They're all somebody's mom. They're all somebody's daughter. And they're all somebody's granddaughter. And none of them wanted to grow up one day to become a drug addict. They deserve the same love and respect as anybody else."

For more information about Mending Hearts, visit www.mendingheartsrecovery.org or call 573-332-7900.