Three Graces Commencement Ceremony

On March 27, 2010, the community joined with the Outreach Center in celebrating the men and women who have bridged the gap from dependency to self-sufficiency by completing the Job Opportunity & Training Center recovery program. The ceremony began at 7 PM on the Center’s Downtown Lafayette Campus, which featured a special performance by the Voices of Recovery Choir, which is compiled of current and past clients from the Center’s recovery program. Tess, 37, is one of the inspiring graduates, who through the Center’s recovery program has transformed her life from addiction to a life of health, happiness and self-sufficiency.

“When I arrived at the Outreach Center I was addicted, angry, lonely and scared. I had no feelings about my life, I was just existing. The Outreach Center taught me how to have peace and serenity in my everyday life and I now see each day as a new adventure. Today, I have learned that, yes, I am worth it. My hopes and dreams for the future is to help women find themselves throughout their recovery. I didn't believe I could be helped so I now want to give back to those women who do not believe they can be helped.”

The Job Opportunity & Training Center is a nine to eleven month treatment program helping our neighbors in need bridge the gap from dependency to self-sufficiency by providing them with: food, clothing, safe housing, job training & placement and counseling. Clients gain life enrichment, spiritual renewal, optimal mental, physical & emotional health, educational advancement, self- growth, hope, empowerment, self-worth and self-respect.

Since the program’s beginning in 1998, more than 900 men and women, who once faced seemingly insurmountable odds on the difficult roads of dependency, have rebuilt their lives with the support of this program. The Outreach Center campus is located at 125 S. Buchanan St. on the corner of South Buchanan and Second Street in downtown Lafayette.

Photos courtesy of The Daily Advertiser