Local rehabilitation nonprofit, Grace and Mercy celebrated its tenth graduating class and the community recognized the organization’s decade of service to women recovering from addiction at Thursday’s banquet.
Grace and Mercy is a one-to-two-year Christian nonprofit program in Hopkinsville that opened in 2015 to provide support and housing to women who have recently been incarcerated in order to help them find employment and reunite with their children.
This year’s graduates include, Staci Mangerchine of Metairie, Louisiana; Nancy Mayers of Princeton; Holly Haddock of Hopkinsville; Patricia Morris of Wilson, Florida; Chelesea Moccio of Florida, Raina Fredde of Tyler, Texas and Tracie Craft of Hopkinsville.
Grace and Mercy Executive Director Joanna Mack welcomed attendees and was beyond excited to be celebrating the nonprofit’s tenth anniversary.
Former Board Chair and founding member Carolyn Self shared that she and Mack met in a prayer group in 2013 to support women recovering from addiction. Self says many of the women they worked with were returning to jail or were homeless and that’s when the pair got the idea to open a house to provide a stable environment for women recovering from addiction.
Beyond providing a residence to women in recovery, the nonprofit is working toward establishing housing for Grace and Mercy graduates. Religious nonprofit, Hope in Murray renovated the original Grace and Mercy home and went on to renovate a nearby home and turn it into a transitional home for graduates. Hope in Murray is now working to renovate a home along Main Street which is set to have seven apartments for graduates.
After the nonprofit’s work was spotlighted, the graduates were honored with a ceremony. Each graduate was presented with a plaque and a rose for completing the program. By completing the program, Mangerchine shared that she was able to be a mother to her daughter again.
Since Grace and Mercy started, 78 women have graduated from the program..
To conclude the event, Grace and Mercy alumnae from the past 10 years shared how life has been post-graduation. Fallon Wright participated in the program in 2015 and says there is not a single day that goes by where she is not thankful for those at Grace and Mercy who helped her recover.
The banquet also served as an opportunity for Grace and Mercy to raise funds to support and expand their mission of supporting women through addiction recovery. At the time of the banquet, Grace and Mercy had raised over $145,000 and is hoping to reach the goal of $300,000.
Folks can still donate at graceandmercyky.org.