RECOVERY PROGRAM

Our vision is to awaken the man with addictions to the possibility of becoming physically, emotionally, and spiritually transformed.

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Long Term. Holistic.

Our goal for men is lifelong recovery and a new way of being in relationship with the world.

Guiding Light Recovery is an intensive drug and alcohol treatment program designed to give men structure and opportunity to engage in change. Our four-to-six month residential program combines evidence-based practices, life-coaching, therapy, support groups, spiritual direction, and resources to equip men to stay sober and live life in a new way.

Comprehensive and private, we provide men a safe environment, time to heal, and space to change. Due to the generosity of this community, Guiding Light Recovery is entirely free to the recipient. Our goal for men is lifelong recovery and a new way of being in relationship with the world.

If you desire to rid yourself from the bondage of alcohol and drug addiction and begin a different way of living, Guiding Light Recovery could be the place for you. We provide a safe and nurturing environment, the beginning or renewing of your personal spiritual journey, and the space and place to involve yourself in caring relationships with people who have traveled a similar path. Our program is free, long-term, faith-based, and includes professional counseling.

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REQUIREMENTS

Prospective clients must be able and willing to work
Persons who receive SSI or other monies are ineligible for our program
We accept persons with felonies, but we may reject an individual who has recent violent felonies
The Guiding Light Recovery program expects any person who comes to us for help to be honest, open-minded, and willing to work hard to change

Interview

We’d like to meet you in person.

Probationary Period

Usually between 7 – 10 days.

Clean and Sober

Free from substances for over 24 hours.

Background Check

Men cannot have unresolved legal issues.

Willingness

Men need to want to change.

Hear Their Stories

For the men at Guiding Light the first step toward starting a new life chapter is learning from the stories that brought them here. From their darkest nights to their first new dawn of many, these men leave nothing out of their gripping testimonials. You see God’s light beginning to work within them.

Stories

Intensive Treatment

Men are provided with educational classes based in principles of dialectical behavioral therapy with content centered around Guiding Light Recovery seven focus points. Each week, men attend group therapy sessions and individual therapy sessions with a licensed counselor specializing in addiction. They have weekly sessions with a life coach and a spiritual director, as well as daily personal contact with outside community support groups.

Several times each week, the group comes together in a community address; these group meetings are a space for our clients to express “what’s going on” in their recovery. These community addresses provide the men an important opportunity to hear feedback from their peers and a chance to acknowledge others’ changes. Men attend a weekly minimum of seven support groups and exercise as a group at the YMCA several times.

But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’

JEREMIAH 30:17

Focus Points

We believe the men in our program need the following characteristics to have the best opportunity for life-long recovery. Each of these focus point principles are thoroughly, comprehensively, and holistically explored in the Guiding Light Recovery Curriculum. Though each person may have his variations, we want each client to articulate and demonstrate his hope for what these statements mean to him as he grows in the recovery process.

1. Willingness

The client is willing to change even though it is painful, daily, life-long, slow and requires new choices. This willingness grows out of humility and the realization that the problem is the man, not in other people or life circumstances, and that the necessary change must occur, first, in him.

The client begins to realize the willingness to do small, tedious, and repetitive actions is the foundation of transformation.

2. Honesty

The client is willing to share the truth even when there is a risk of self-disclosure, or unpleasant consequences may follow. The client develops an understanding that honesty is so much more than just sharing facts; it demands self-reflection and vulnerability.

The client begins to understand the depth and breadth of true honesty, both with himself and with others.

3. Self Awareness

The client begins to notice his areas of reactivity, his patterns of behavior, and the stories he tells himself about who he is. Through an ongoing assessment of self, he starts to BE a different way in the world. The client moves out of judging and interpreting the world and into observing and relating to the world.

The client begins to identify patterns in all aspects of his being through increased awareness and honesty.

4. Responsibility

The client keeps commitments, small and large, to himself. The client lives a life of alignment with his values. The client engages in self-correction and is humble enough to receive feedback from others about their perceptions and understanding of him.

The client begins to live in line with his stated values, holding himself accountable for how his words, intentions, and behaviors match up regardless of his emotional state.

5. Vulnerability

The client learns to live with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure so he can more fully experience love and connection. He realizes that vulnerability is NOT a weakness but is courageous and empowering. The client starts to understand vulnerability is at the heart of living at cause.

The client begins to understand vulnerability as power and possibility in creating meaningful relationships and responsible living.

6. Spiritual Formation

The client realizes that he is a spiritual being and that he is in constant spiritual formation. He is provided opportunities to engage in intentional spiritual formation, develop his spiritual practices, and rest in God’s love.

The client explores how his spirituality shows up in daily life and identifies areas of interest and growth.

7. Self-Compassion

The client begins to show himself grace and forgiveness, understanding he has value simply by being human. The client develops his ability to live from a place of love, not fear. He learns to find his value in being human, not in his latest success or in being better than someone else.

The client shows himself compassion through active well-being practices in work, exercise, nutrition, sleep, spirituality, and relationships.

The Gift of Time & Resources

The Guiding Light Recovery Program provides men with many resources. A man who joins the program is provided a life coach, a case manager, a spiritual director, and a therapist. He is also provided food, shelter, spirituality, education, fitness, and time to heal.

LET THE THIEF NO LONGER STEAL, BUT RATHER LET HIM LABOR, DOING HONEST WORK WITH HIS OWN HANDS, SO THAT HE MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH ANYONE IN NEED. EPHESIANS 4:28

Give Help

By donating to Guiding Light, you are helping Grand Rapids men who are lost, homeless or recovering from addiction and substance abuse get off the street and on a payroll.

52%

of men complete the Guiding Light Recovery Foundations Phase

78%

of men that enter Iron House and achieve one year of sobriety.

Impact