Women who make strong bonds in recovery tend to have longevity in sobriety. The Arbor Women’s Group bridges the gap for women, and we do it in a FUN way! A2WG conducts monthly activities to strengthen and enhance women’s recovery through fun, informative, healthy events. Our events, workshops and retreats are free, low-cost, and/or scholarship based.
Who Can Attend an A2WG Event?
If you are a former alcoholic or addict in recovery, and you are a woman, you qualify. Just register for our events.
Finding Out About Events
We list upcoming events on the home page and on the events and retreats page. We also post all of our events on social media. There are links to your favorite social media sites on every webpage. The fastest way to find out about upcoming events is to sign-up to receive recovery event emails and/or by joining our text notification list by texting EZA2WG to 313131.
Ann Arbor Women’s Group Board
Catherine M. Freeman, President
Nancy Rhodes, Vice President
Georgea (Gigi) M. Langer, Secretary
Amy Gibson Thomas, Treasurer
Andrea Forbing, Member at Large
Eileen Grady, Member at Large
Diana (Di) H. Kimball, Member at Large
Active in my spiritual development, in my recovery from alcoholism for 29 years, in
my family and in various social activities (flower arranging, book club, “wise women”
small group discussions, “lunch bunch”, etc.). Proud to be of service as a Board
Member of the Ann Arbor Women’s Group.
Janice Weber, Member at Large
How It Started
In February, 2007, a former Executive Director and several other Ann Arbor, Michigan women recovering from alcohol or drug addiction attended a recovery conference in nearby Detroit. This conference and other events for recovering women (e.g., retreats) cost more than many women in early sobriety can afford. Yet, such events are a crucial “booster” to a woman’s sobriety. She saw women laughing, connecting and having fun. She saw that life without alcohol and drugs can be good as she listened to the stories of women of varied economic and ethnic backgrounds. She began to have hope.
The Idea
The former Executive Director began to wonder how to provide support to sober women who could not afford to attend such events. She knew it would take money and organization to achieve this goal.
Higher Power
In Recovery we speak of a “Higher Power” that cares for our lives. This Power was surely present as the former Executive Director stood in line to buy an audiotape of one of the Detroit conference’s main speakers. She began to chat with the woman in front of her and shared the idea of funding women’s attendance at such events. The woman said, “Please come and meet my mother; think she would be very interested.” The mother (Ms. Negley) agreed readily to allocate some of her extensive foundation funds to our cause, and asked for a concrete proposal. And that was the beginning…