Recently, students from the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Huntsville, Alabama in the Pharmacy Technician program visited the nearby Freedom House. Freedom House is a residential substance abuse rehabilitation facility for women and and their children in Rogersville, Alabama. Their goal is to bring the 12 Steps Program used by Alcoholics Anonymous to chemically dependent women.
At the center of their mission and goals is the holistic method with which Freedom House comes alongside of each of the women that are pursuing recovery and seek help. To the end of helping these women live independent, successful lives, they find ways to help them become free of their addictions and provide support to help them learn to parent better and get out of the cycle of addiction.
Their trip was a major success! The students received a tour of the facilities and an in depth description of what Freedom House is about and what they do for the women and also the children in their care. They were given a first-hand visual of what the women do on a day-to-day basis while the kids are at school and while they’re back at home. They follow a strict schedule and are expected to follow a specific set of rules in order to get their lives back on the right track. Some of the women even have jobs outside of Freedom House.
All too often, parents fail to prioritize school supplies at the top of their lists because of more important expenses such as housing and food. However, school supplies are a major part of student success in the classroom. In the weeks leading up to their visit, the staff, faculty, and students collected what they believed were the most necessary school supplies and they also made interactive learning materials for the children such as flashcards and interactive notebooks.
One student even put together cards with words of encouragement to help the children feel better about themselves and how they were doing in school. They also included little gift bags with healthy snacks and juices and basic learning flashcards for the kids that didn’t attend school yet so that they didn’t feel left out.
Although they didn’t get to watch as the kids dug into their bags of goodies, they did get to witness the joy it brought to the mothers to know that somebody cared enough to think of them and their children in their situations. “The gratefulness from the mothers could be felt in the room to such an extent that they didn’t have to express how thankful they were, you just felt it,” shared current Pharmacy Technician student Ayana Varnes. “The experience in a whole was inspirational and a joy to be a part of.” The Freedom House definitely holds a special place in the hearts and minds of the Huntsville campus and they are already planning their next visit!