09/12/2024
I am bumping this back up because there seems to be a lot of confusion still going around as far as The First Step is concerned.
Remember if it is not coming from Myself or our PR director (Joseph wilson) it may not be true and if you have questions please reach out and I will be happy to answer.
Thank you,
Amy S.
‼️‼️ LONG BUT IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:‼️‼️
A letter from our President:
I wanted to take a moment to clear some things up about the future of The First Step and all of the services we provide, but before I do that I want to tell you a little more about what we offer through the First Step because I know there has always been some confusion with this.
The First Step is a 501c3 non-profit organization that runs solely off of free will donations provided to us by our outstanding communities and individuals within those communities. Our board of directors is made up of addicts in recovery who know on a personal level what addiction, mental illness, abuse, homelessness, trauma, and so many other things are like. Due to this we want to provide a safe, secure, and understanding way to seek treatment, aftercare, and other services throughout the country. We do this by offering help with finding treatment centers, often times providing transportation to facilities, helping with filing for medical assistance, providing information/ hosting step programs and support groups, supplying those who are in need with go-bags for inpatient treatment centers that contain basic necessities, provide Narcan and training for how to use Narcan, and have a 24 hour crisis phone line (618-554-8124) for anyone who may need it at any given time. This is just a short list of the services we offer to those who need any type of help, and each day we are growing with more resources we can offer the communities to help in all sorts of ways.
Now for the big announcement. The board of directors has decided that we will not be signing a new lease with our current location, that has been absolutely wonderful since we have moved in but we have grown so much with what we offer we need something a tad bit bigger.
This does not mean we are stopping the things we do. We will be taking a short break to relocate and revamp things within the First Step and will be doing a bit more fundraising to facilitate these changes.
As for the meetings that we host through the First Step, these meetings WILL NOT BE CLOSING, they will be relocating for the time being until we can come back from the relaunch.
The new meeting locations will be posted in a flier and pinned to the top of The First Step page and as always you can call or text our crisis line for this information as well.
If you are interested in supporting the many things we do or would like to utilize any of the services we offer please just send us a message, call, text or email. We are always here and we will NOT be going anywhere.
As for any future updates, fundraisers, or new services we offer these will be posted on all of our social media platforms so be sure to like and follow those. Every like and follow helps more than you know.
Our current upcoming fundraisers are:
Free Will Donation Yard Sale on Aug 31st at the Robinson City Park from 8am-12pm
And
Our Annual Celebration Event on Sept 28th at the Robinson City Park. We are still accepting vendors, sponsors and food trucks if interested in being a part of this event just shoot a message.
Thank you all for all of your continued support with everything we do. Without your support none of the things we do would be possible and we wouldn't be able to touch as many lives as we have these past few years and will continue to do in the upcoming years.
-Amy Shelton
President First Step Sober Lounge Inc.
