Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, I finally qualified for the Boston Marathon last month, and the best part of that is that I get to run next year for an organization that means a great deal to me:  the Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center for Women, part of hopeFound here in Boston.

The KDTCW is a 32-bed, post-detox facility open to homeless women in early stages of recovery.  It is one of the few centers that offers poor women a full 28-day program, with individual and group education and counseling, for addiction and trauma.  The Center staff also work hard to provide extensive after-care planning and placement so that the women can find the support they need to transition into a better life.  I have been fortunate enough to lead a regular meditation program at the Center, and the women have taught me a lot about hope and faith against all odds.

Some of you reading this know personally the courage it takes to face addiction, and others may not, but we have all experienced times in our lives when we hit some bottom - whatever that meant for us - and we could not see a way out.  Someone, somewhere helped us through that, and all we have to do is pay that kindness forward.

I promise to train through wind, sleet, and snow all Winter, make it to the starting line, and through the marathon.  You get the easy part - pay it forward and please help in any way you can!

Love, Lisa