Published: December 08, 2008 07:55 am      

Tea for charity, and tables too

Every table was decorated with Christmas cheer, and one even sold for almost $200.

All benefits Saturday at the Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women’s first Holiday Tea went to support the 67 women who now reside at the recovery center.

“Assisting at an event like this allows them to take responsibility and be held accountable,” said Jeri Allison, the center’s program director. “This is a marvelous opportunity for them to practice living life on life’s terms. It also helps raise money for their education fund. We wanted to start this fund in order to have the money available when an AA conference is taking place.”

Residents served as waitresses Saturday at the event that featured remarks from Allison, Dr. Paula Maionchi, chair of the Liberty Place Committee, and Jim Conneelly, associate provost and vice president of student affairs at Eastern Kentucky University.

Conneelly spoke about compassion and leadership.

“Acting with compassion takes courage,” Conneelly said. “It takes empathy, love and a readiness to collaborate with others. It takes fairness, kindness, gentleness, honesty, respect, courage and love. The opportunities for these women are enhanced by the actions you take this afternoon.”

Members of the community helped sponsor the residents by purchasing 22 tables and raising about $4,000 for the recovery center.

Also included in Saturday’s festivities were a variety of holiday treats, tea and musical entertainment from the Reel World String Band and live and silent auctions hosted by Theodore Lloyd, EKU technology professor.

The Liberty Place Recovery Center opened earlier this summer and went from 14 residents to almost 70. The center is a result of the Recovery Kentucky campaign that began with former governor, Ernie Fletcher.

The project of building the recovery center was a joint effort of the Kentucky Housing Corporation, the Governor’s Office for Local Development, the Department of Corrections and the FHL Bank of Cincinnati.

Operating funds come from the Kentucky Governors Office for Local Development (GOLD), the Kentucky Department of Corrections and the City of Richmond Project-Based Section 8 Housing.

The recovery center is located at 218 Lake St. and is one of six that already exist in the state. The goal for Recovery Kentucky is to have 10 recovery centers throughout the state.

Richmond’s recovery center houses women from several counties around the state including: Anderson, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Jessamine, Lincoln, Mercer, Montgomery, Powell, Scott and Woodford counties.

Call 625-0104 for more information about Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women or to learn how to donate.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.