Nancy has dedicated her life to helping women in their recovery from substance abuse. “I have to keep doing what I’m doing because this very morning, somewhere, a woman woke up thinking her life is over. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she will never take a drink or drug again and her life is going to turn inside out. I know, because mine did.”

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Nancy has dedicated her life to helping women in their recovery from substance abuse.

As Co-founder and Executive Director of Come Rest Awhile (CRA), she is seeing a long time dream come to be.

CRA offers a safe and supportive home with a family atmosphere for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. In the spring of 1997, an evening of melodrama and a spaghetti dinner provided seed money that paid for two computers and non-profit statues and so it began.

Everything was donated to set up a comfortable home in Lake Grove and Nancy and six residents moved in on July 1, 2001.  Today CRA is located in a large, beautiful home in Lake Oswego and is home to 12 women. Since opening, over 150 women have come through the doors, approximately 45% of whom are clean and sober and continue to be a part of the family.

Nancy’s Passion

In 1997, I was introduced to Mickey O’Connell, also in recovery. A mutual acquaintance knew that Mickey wanted to open an upscale bed and breakfast for women in recovery, and that I always wanted a retreat house.

Research revealed that there were 8 sober living houses for men to 1 for women we realized the need for a strong, supportive home for women trying to rebuild their lives in early recovery and Come Rest Awhile was born.

We completed the 501©3 process and opened the doors on July 1, 2001. I moved in as volunteer Executive Director. Today I live close by and am on call 24 hours a day.

I could not have done this without the help and support of Mickey and the many angels in the recovering community who support Come Rest Awhile and me.

I have to keep doing what I’m doing because this very morning, somewhere, a woman woke up thinking her life is over. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she will never take a drink or drug again and her life is going to turn inside out. I know, because mine did.

Nancy’s Story

Near the end of 1975, I moved back to my hometown in central Illinois with my four youngest boys after a failed marriage.  I did not know where my two older boys were. I had lost everything, had no job and had no idea what to do. My alcoholism had reached a “bottom” and I knew I could not continue the path I was on. I sought help and entered recovery. As a result I have enjoyed continuous sobriety since December 24, 1975.

The recovering community stepped in with their support, and I was assisted with a place to live, furniture, linens, dishes, even food to start me and my four boys on a life I could not have imagined. Over the years, I worked in the nonprofit world, and in 1980, was hired as Executive Director of Sheltering Arms, a women’s halfway house in northern Illinois, and found my niche in helping women as I had been helped.

A reunion with both my older boys brought me to San Francisco in 1983, where I attended Antioch University, received a BA in Psychology and completed Masters’ work in Women’s Studies. I continued to work in the Alcohol and Drug treatment field in various positions, but my focus was always on women – and the need for support not always offered through traditional paths. Two women in recovery invited me to join them in Portland, OR in 1992 where I continued to work with women through the recovery program, sharing my experience, strength and hope.

Come Rest Awhile (CRA),
503-635-0102 office
info@comerestawhile.org
http://www.comerestawhile.org