To Our Beloved LGBTQ+ Community

SHE RECOVERS® Team

“Every human in the LGBTQ+ community deserves to feel safe to be who they are, wherever they are.”

To Our Beloved LGBTQ+ Family,

We see, hear and love you.

We are devastated by the mass shooting in Colorado Springs that occurred on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Our hearts break for the victims, their families and the LGBTQ+ community. We are deeply saddened and enraged how the LGBTQ+ community continues to be harmed by people and systems who hold such hate in their hearts. We also know that thoughts and prayers do not solve the homophobia, transphobia, gender-based trauma and hate that continues to impact our world. May those we have lost rest in power. May we not rest until every person in the LGBTQ+ community feels celebrated, honored, supported and safe to be who they are, wherever they are.

In the wake of this incredible trauma we are reminded that our action matters. Allyship matters. Leveraging our privilege to contribute to solutions and create identity-based spaces that are welcoming, supportive, and safeguarded against those who seek to do harm, matters. Standing up for your rights and speaking out against hate matters. Fighting for your equality, equity and freedom matters–because you matter.

If you feel sad, you are welcome here.
If you feel enraged, you are welcome here.
If you feel scared, you are welcome here.
If you feel lost, you are welcome here.

If you are a lesbian – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are gay – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are bisexual – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are pansexual – – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are transgender – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are queer – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are questioning – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are asexual – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are two-spirited – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are non-binary – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.
If you are intersex – you belong here, you are precious and you matter.

No matter who you love or how you love, all of who you are belongs here.

If you don’t believe that LGBTQ+ people deserve to be loved, supported, safe and free to be who they are and love who they wish to love – you aren’t welcome in our spaces.

If you are a woman or non-binary individual who identifies with women’s communities and what you need right now is unconditional love, relentless support, and a space to be held by fellow travelers please join the LGBTQ+ Group and Gathering.

If you don’t have the mental, emotional, physical or spiritual capacity to know how you feel or what you need at this moment, you are welcome here, just as you are.

Additional resources and supports are also available, such as:

LGBT National Health Center

call or text with a peer support volunteer
glbtnationalhelpcenter.org
1-888-843-4564

LGBTQ+ Thrive Mental Health Crisis Support

text “THRIVE” to begin your conversation
1.313.662.8209

Trans LifeLine

Provides peer support for the trans community
translifeline.org/
Canada (877) 330-6366
US (877) 565-8860

In love & solidarity,

The SHE RECOVERS Team

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Shelly Dimitrijevic

Shelly Dimitrijevic’s professional and philanthropic activities have always focused on improving the lives of others. She began her nursing career at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and went on to become a LifeFlight nurse specializing in neonatal, pediatric, and cardiovascular intensive care.

Shelly has been involved with numerous charities focusing on children and education including the Charlee and the Chocolate Factory gala, The Venus Orbit, Design For A Cure, Jackson Memorial, and Impact Oasis. In 2010 she founded the Lotus program, a program that focused on educating parents on the nutritional needs of children and basic child development. Shelly also served on the Frost Science Museum gala committee for 7 years before Co-Chairing the event in 2015.

After a diagnosis of Celiac disease and subsequently receiving Certification as a Nutritional Consultant, Shelly recognized that topically applied products have an effect on her Celiac Disease and overall health. She turned her focus to developing skincare that was free of toxic and hormone-disrupting ingredients.

Since she lost her only sibling in 2012 Shelly has been determined to find a way to contribute to the recovery community in a way that can make a great impact and ensure that others have the resources necessary when they are struggling.

Shelly's substantial contributions to SHE RECOVERS of both time and resources have been instrumental and deeply appreciated.

Kirsten Newquist

As a result of being introduced to SHE RECOVERS through retreats and meet-ups, Kirsten will be starting her yoga teacher training in the fall. These retreats also led her to become more deeply involved with SHE RECOVERS in a volunteer capacity. Kirsten was instrumental in setting up some of the Foundation's grassroots groups and currently volunteers her time helping SHE RECOVERS Foundation to design and implement the Volunteer Chapter Network. Kirsten and her husband recently moved from Southern California to Roswell, Georgia to be closer to Kirsten's sister and two young nieces. When she isn't spending time being an aunt, you can find Kirsten hanging out with their rescue Labrador or exploring their new state.

Mary Beth O'Connor

Mary Beth is a founding member of SHE RECOVERS Support for Legal Professionals and is active at the local level with SHE RECOVERS in the Bay Area. Mary Beth has been living a sober life in recovery for over 26 years. She also has a history of trauma and abuse, from which she’s worked hard to recover as well. 6 years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014 Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to completing her writing and being more active in the recovery community.

She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing and develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach. In August 2020, Mary Beth had an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, I Beat Addiction without God, where she described building a personal recovery plan by combining ideas from LifeRing, Women for Sobriety, and Narcotics Anonymous. In November 2020 she had an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was a federal judge, and I support Safehouse. Here’s why. She is currently working on a full-length memoir.

Taryn Strong

Taryn Strong is a founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as well as a trauma-informed yoga instructor, recovery coach, aromatherapist, and herbalist (and daughter to Mama Dawn). Taryn has developed a unique yoga retreat program and led over 40 yoga for recovery retreats since 2012. She is also the host of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast and most recently created and taught the inaugural trauma-informed SHE RECOVERS Yoga Teacher Training Program. Operating from a trauma-informed lens and a firm believer in anti-oppressive practices, Taryn brings an empathic and invitational approach to healing - empowering women to find and follow individualized pathways and patchworks of recovery.

Taryn's courageous vulnerability and passion for recovering out-loud has made her an influential voice in the global recovery movement - smashing the stigma often associated with substance use and mental health issues. Taryn creates and lives with her beloved and two dogs within the ancestral and unceded traditional territory of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples (Saltspring Island).

Susan Carter

Susan is an architect of hope and healing with over 30 years of experience in providing executive-level leadership to heart-centered teams in the non-profit realm. Since joining SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as Executive Director in April 2020, Susan continues to weave her experience with her passion to help other women receive what she has been so graciously given – long-term recovery from substance use disorder, body image issues, codependency, perfectionism, and moral injury.

Susan’s work in the treatment industry quickly revealed how stigma kept women struggling with mental health issues and addiction from seeking help, and the lack of resources available to them once they did. Having served as a founding employee of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for 20 years, playing an integral role in creating the global grassroots movement that changed the way breast cancer is talked about and treated, she felt called to utilize that experience to do the same for women struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Celebrating more than 27 years of continuous sobriety, Susan is a Certified Peer Support Worker (CPSW) in the state of New Mexico to provide resources and peer support to those in or seeking recovery. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her fur family of four, Alex, Chaco, Bodhi, and Gracie.

Dawn Nickel

Dawn Nickel, Founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, is a thought leader in the women's recovery sphere as well as an accomplished leader, dedicated researcher, and visionary in the recovery moment. She holds a Ph.D. in health care policy with extensive experience in researching and writing about women experiencing substance use disorders, mental health challenges, and intimate partner violence. Dawn started her own journey of recovery from a substance use disorder and domestic violence in 1987. She is also in recovery from anxiety, grief, trauma, overworking, and cancer. Dawn's tell-it-like-it-is wisdom has created a ripple effect where you will often hear her quotes "the shit you did is just the shit you did - it's not who you are" and "recovering from all the things" resonating throughout many recovery realms.

Currently working on her first book, Dawn is living proof that in a world where all women in or seeking recovery are celebrated, supported, and deemed essential to healthy communities - anything is possible. She is fondly referred to as Mama Dawn in the SHE RECOVERS Community and to her daughters Taryn and Ashley. Dawn lives, works, and plays with her beloved grandchildren on the traditional territories of the Lkwungen speaking peoples on Vancouver Island.

To Our Beloved LGBTQ+ Community

SHE RECOVERS® Team

To Our Beloved LGBTQ+ Family,

We see, hear and love you.

Additional resources and supports are also available, such as:

LGBT National Health Center

LGBTQ+ Thrive Mental Health Crisis Support

Trans LifeLine

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Shelly Dimitrijevic

Kirsten Newquist

Mary Beth O'Connor

Taryn Strong

Susan Carter

Dawn Nickel

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