NAOMI: the Missing Piece
“All the reasons I drank were still present and eating me alive.”
Ashley* got sober without getting well.
“I needed to know why I was the way I was, and I needed friends who were actively working to be healthy mentally, spiritually and emotionally.” Ashley found those relationships at NAOMI and began to understand the why behind her choices. “We dig deeper. We get to the root causes.”
“NAOMI helped heal all of me!”
The Spokane region is rich in resources for people who are struggling. We have food banks, meal programs, therapists, recovery groups, shelters, energy assistance, case management, behavioral health programs, but what is often missing is the long-term relationship support necessary to heal from the inside out. Resources are wonderful and essential, but at the end of the day, people have to be well enough to make use of the resources. People have to choose health and wholeness (or have someone walking alongside to help them choose), and making those choices requires believing they are worthy of goodness. It requires hope that life can be different than it has always been.
“NAOMI helped heal all of me”
*Name and photos changed for privacy reasons.
Ashley had been through intensive outpatient treatment and had about four months of clean time when she met Shante, NAOMI lead support specialist, at a recovery meeting. Shante made a big impression on Ashley (as Shante often does): “I remember the first time I met her. She was genuine and loving and truly wanted to see me.”
Ashley had been through counseling and was attending AA meetings consistently. She had learned a lot about addiction and could identify her behaviors in active addiction, as well as some of the indicators of when she was headed in the wrong direction, but as she puts it, they didn’t teach her the why: “Why am I this way and how do I get out of it? Treatment only treated one part of me, from my first drink to my last.
“All the reasons I drank were still present and eating me alive.”
Shante sent Ashley a message about NAOMI: “Some of my closest humans are in this group. If you’re ever looking for something MORE…or different, please come.”
Ashley sensed she had found what she was looking for: “I was isolated and had no one in my life who understood what I was experiencing. I needed friends who were actively working to be healthy mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. I also needed a safe place where my children could come with me when I did not have child care.”
Safe Community
Community isn’t just a good idea. At NAOMI, it’s the central point. Our minds and bodies were designed for connection. We get hurt in relationships, and we heal in relationships.
“Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.” (Dr. van der Kolk, leading trauma-research psychiatrist, author and educator)
Safe connections are what NAOMI is all about.
Between the years 2020-2024, NAOMI conducted four community surveys seeking to better understand a woman’s experience in our services. A total of 51 women chose to participate in the anonymous surveys over the years. One hundred percent of the women self-reported that NAOMI provided them with a grace-filled community that extends mercy and kindness while modeling healthy relationships.
Connection
Ashley needed a safe place… and time.
“In the beginning, it was uncomfortable for me to have someone offering a relationship without an agenda. Someone who consistently reached out to see how I was doing and asked specific details of my life. There was no signing up or converting, which left me wondering what was the catch, but to my surprise, there wasn’t one.”
In 2024, NAOMI provided 3,300 hours of relationship-based services; 92 percent of which were in one-on-one interactions between a support specialist and a member of the community.
Reflection
“What I witnessed during my first group was someone would share a struggle in their life and the other women would just listen. No one turned away from what was going on. And no one gave advice. I was astonished. After sharing in another meeting, the love, reassurance, and confidence I felt was remarkable.
“I softened and became more compassionate not only to myself but others.”
“Every time I met with Shante one-on-one or participated in a group, I softened and became more compassionate not only to myself, but to others. This shift was enlightening because I lived in constant anger and resentment, which kept me in damaging cycles of substance abuse and toxic relationships. In my experience, I was not able to get deep enough in other recovery circles to heal my past pain.”
In 2024, staff recorded 3,315 incidents of women using reflection to make a responsible choice: 789 choices of holding boundaries; 1,040 choices to build healthy relationships; 465 choices to keep herself and her family safe.
Healing & Growth
“At NAOMI, I became aware of my patterns and learned the whys behind them.
We dig deeper; we get to the root cause so that we can process our true feelings and move forward with compassion and understanding.”
In the survey mentioned above, an average of 96% of the women identified becoming more self-aware and connected due to their participation in NAOMI services, and 90% expressed growth in having better boundaries for themselves.
Connection and reflection lead to healing and growth. In 2024, 105 relapses were prevented; 65 harmful relationships were ended; and 21 families started or increased therapeutic services.
NAOMI helps heal the whole self.
Be part of building a grace-filled community where women and children enduring trauma can experience connection, heal and build lives of joy and meaning.
