A year ago a group of Moms from our parent support group were feeling very sad anticipating the holidays without their children. Our children were either on the streets in active addiction, in rehabs, or not in contact with us. I noticed many moms sinking into depression and isolating themselves and thought what if we pay it forward. 

I found a women's treatment center (Interim House, Inc.) that served women many court ordered from the prison system, without insurance, homeless and many battling years and years of addiction. I gathered a group of moms we collected donations from our parent support groups and brought each resident a Christmas basket filled with essentials as many had nothing when they entered the program. We all brought food and lots of love the Friday before Christmas. Most of the women did not have contact with their families and we were moms filled with love and understanding of the disease of addiction. It was an incredible melding of love, healing and filled our hearts beyond anything we could have imagined. 

Our motives in the beginning were to pay it forward in hopes someone out there was being kind to our kids that Christmas but what we received was the most beautiful experience of our lives. They let us know it wasn't our fault, we let them know even if their parents weren't there now give them time, they were so appreciative and overwhelmed that anyone could possibly love and not judge them, they shared their stories, we were there with mom love, hugs, and tissues.

It is now been over a year and we have continued to visit once a month bringing food, an abundance of love and hugs. We eat, laugh, dance and do a big circle share at the end. We have collected donations of items the program needs and always celebrate each holiday with a party. The women in the program change but some still come back for Moms night and they anticipate our visit each month as much as we look forward to the time we spend with them. A few benefits to our moms:

• Services allows us to get out of our own heads
• The women in the program give us hope for our kids by sharing their experiences and help us better understand the disease and how difficult it is to stay sober.
• It has been a way for new moms in our support group to feel connected and not isolate
• Moms are organizers and caregivers by nature and these visits allow us to care for other addicts when we are often unable to do so for our own
• We are so humbled by the women's stories and efforts to turn their lives around