This week the men from Guiding Light Recovery had the opportunity to get their haircut courtesy of the Douglas J Aveda Institute in downtown Grand Rapids.
Over the past year, with the advent of the COVID-19 virus, the men have been significantly limited in their ability to get out of our facility like they used to in the past. Opportunities to visit family members, go out for recreational activities, or do something as simple as getting a haircut have been few and far between. We are grateful that two staff members from Aveda agreed to come to our facility in Heartside and help us out.
Little acts of kindness such as this are so welcome for men dealing with the stress of being locked down, trying to get their life back together and recovering from addiction. It is a reminder of the good will of the community in Grand Rapids that surrounds us. It is a reminder that we are all in this together, and that the men we serve are worthy of God’s love. We want to thank the Douglas J Aveda institute for helping our clients get a little bit of a semblance of normality back in their lives.
Making it through 2020 was a difficult time for all of us. The changes and adjustments we had to make here on the ground level of our organization was something nobody could have imagined this time last year. When we think back to all the craziness and uncertainty that Guiding Light has gone through, whether it was the donation of our building to the Kent County Health Administration, the transfer of our programming off-site, or the suspension and then resumption of client acceptance, it is amazing to look back on how far we have come. We are blessed to be here today, strong as ever, and are humbled by the support you have shown us through all of it. God bless you, our donors, advocates, and volunteers, and thank you so much for everything you have done for Guiding Light to help us get through the truly interesting and unprecedented year that was 2020, we could not have made it without you. As we slowly get back to a “new normal” here at Guiding Light, here’s to better days ahead.
