Jeremiah Foundation, Inc. History:
Jeremiah Foundation, Inc has been in existence since 2006. It is the legal 501(c)3 non-profit organization name. Robin Farrar, someone with lived experience in need of community herself and a bit before her time, envisioned a place where people could come, hang out, heal, and get support. Jennifer Kell, LCSW was involved in this vision with Robin. Robin passed away in 2009 and the non-profit went dormant for awhile. Jennifer later added two program names known as DBA’s (doing business as) Inner Touch & Robin’s Hope. Inner Touch is a program that offers counseling services and it’s been in place since 2010. Heather Pate, RPRS entered Jennifer’s life in 2013 with a similar vision as Robin and working on her own recovery. In 2016, Heather completed the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist class and in 2017 was grandfathered in as the state created a position as CPRS (Certified Peer Recovery Specialist) in Virginia. In 2018, Robin’s vision came alive through Jennifer & Heather in the creation a safe space for people to develop resilience, hope, and connection known as Robin’s Hope.
Robin’s Hope History:
Robin’s Hope is a program of Jeremiah Foundation, Inc and separate of Inner Touch. It is a peer-run program that works to bring a mix of clinical “learned’ experience, peer support “lived” experience coupled with interns, members/participants of the program, other people from the community, and collaborating organizations.
On June 4, 2018, we opened the doors to our very first RISE group, a resilience-based trauma support group, and a trauma sensitive yoga class in collaboration with Leah Lingus (2 groups weekly). October 1, 2018, we opened from 1-8pm on Mondays with a trauma sensitive yoga group on Wednesday mornings and some evening trauma sensitive yoga groups (6-7 groups weekly).
On January 8, 2020 we expanded to add a second RISE group due to an increase in group attendance (7 groups weekly). On February 5, 2020, we added a full day of groups on Wednesdays open from 9am-8pm (12 groups weekly). February/March 2020, Americans were struck by a global pandemic (COVID-19) and the world slowed down. We didn’t stop our groups though. March 18, 2020 (Wednesday) was our last full day in-person and we were running groups virtually from March 23, 2020 (Monday) onward. The members requested extra check in days throughout the week and several people stepped up to make that happen. On April 1, 2020 we had some type of group/s 5 days a week (15 groups weekly). As of October 1, 2020, we operate roughly averaging 18-20 groups a week operating 6 days a week.
Members, Volunteers, Peer Recovery Specialists, Interns, non-licensed, & licensed clinical people all take part in facilitating groups. Robin’s Hope is as diverse as the people who show up. Everyone has a part at Robin’s Hope, from showing up in a group, to offering up ideas, to facilitating groups, to helping oversee the program. It’s not about us without us.
