<a title="Judith Ann Hillard and Daughter Olivia Grace" href="http://www.addictionovercome.com/judith.shtml"><img style="border-width:0;margin:5px;" src="http://new.corepurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/judith-olivia-small.jpg" border="0" alt="Judith Ann Hillard and her daughter Olivia Grace" width="159" height="244" align="right" /></a>I first met Judith Ann Hillard and her daughter Olivia Grace (see photo at right) in 2003 when they opened their home to me and a group of other speakers for the first <a href="http://www.nsa-arizona.org">NSA-Arizona</a> Living Room Forum. 

How little I knew at that time.  Not that our hostess was a recovered drug addict or that little Olivia Grace was her redemption.  Not that when she said that she was starting over, she meant it so literally.  Nor was I aware that the drug addictions that had cost her her career as a teacher had also almost cost her - her life.   It was not until she reached out for help in her battle with MS or after that when she published <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Other-Woman-at-Well/dp/1600348777/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1238513120&amp;sr=11-1">The Other Woman at the Well</a> and founded <a href="http://addictionovercome.blogspot.com/">Addiction Overcome, Inc</a>. a local charity that helps the children of addicts that I began to piece together the story.  When I learned what she had experienced - it frightened me.  What I saw, as she put her life back together, created a loving home for her daughter, and began to create new ways to help others - especially the children of addicts - little ones who suffer through no fault  of their own - was inspirational.

Addiction Overcome (a non-profit 501c3) helps children and families touched by drug abuse.  They do things as simple as putting gas in the car they use to transport children to and from family visit days at in-patient rehabilitation centers or pay for Bibles and other outreach materials for addicts. The organization also educates and supports families by...
<ul>
	<li>paying for in-home drug testing kits</li>
	<li>providing meals for children whose parents or the grandparents who are raising them cannot afford groceries</li>
	<li>transportation costs</li>
	<li>printing and distributing outreach materials about drug abuse</li>
</ul>
In these times, our charities are the ones most affected by the down turn.  They don't receive stimulus packages, founding sources are drying up, and especially for grass roots organizations like this one, times are hard. 

So today, I placed a little something in the well.  It was not much, but it's a start.  I did not do it for Judith or for the drug addicted parents - I did it for the children.  Maybe you will too?  To donate visit <a title="http://addictionovercome.blogspot.com/" href="http://addictionovercome.blogspot.com/">http://addictionovercome.blogspot.com/</a>

100 Years From Now, It will not matter what house I lived in,
the kind of car I drove, or the size of my bank account,
But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.
<blockquote>excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft</blockquote>
  Stay Tuned -
<blockquote>Joan Koerber-Walker
<div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:38106662-6e7d-40a8-965c-dd09aa68ad23" class="wlWriterSmartContent" style="display:inline;margin:0;padding:0;">Technorati Tags: <a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Joan%20Koerber-Walker">Joan Koerber-Walker</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/CorePurpose">CorePurpose</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/For%20the%20Children">For the Children</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/The%20Other%20Woman%20at%20the%20Well">The Other Woman at the Well</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Addiction%20Overcome">Addiction Overcome</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Judith%20Ann%20Hillard">Judith Ann Hillard</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/non%20profit%20support">non profit support</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/grass%20roots">grass roots</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/children%20of%20addicts">children of addicts</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/drug%20abuse">drug abuse</a></div></blockquote>