{"id":451531,"date":"2025-12-16T19:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/451531\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T19:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:20:21","slug":"recovery-with-children-inside-kivas-approach-for-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/451531\/","title":{"rendered":"Recovery With Children: Inside Kiva\u2019s Approach for Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an in-between moment at the Kiva Learning Center<\/a> for Women and Children in Lemon Grove. The banana-yellow slide of a small jungle gym brightens up the misty day outside, waiting for the charming bedlam of kids set loose to play. In the doorway of the center\u2019s onsite daycare, a mom calls her children\u2019s names, and they come tumbling out to join her. Operations Manager Michelle DeForrest studies a rainbow of small handprints, each marked with a name and date, on the wall just outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d wanted to do this for a long time,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s what this program stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1981, Jeanne McAlister<\/a> asked a question that would change thousands of lives: What are the barriers women struggling with addiction face when seeking treatment?<\/p>\n

One of the biggest: There were very, very few recovery centers that let women stay with their kids. So, McAlister created Kiva, the county\u2019s first treatment facility to do just that. \u201cBeing able to have kids up to 12 years old come here, where they\u2019re able to go to school [and access] childcare onsite, it\u2019s just been a beautiful thing,\u201d DeForrest says. The center accommodates up to 25 children at any given time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo Credit: Cole Novak<\/p>\n

Founded in 1977, the McAlister Institute<\/a> has 23 other recovery-related programs, but Kiva is especially focused on the unique needs and challenges of women<\/a>. In addition to a daycare, there\u2019s a donor-funded \u201cbonding room\u201d where new mothers can be alone with their babies for the first few weeks of life. Vocational training creates employment opportunities for residents who may have never worked before.<\/p>\n

\u201cParenting skills are a big part of the program,\u201d DeForrest explains. \u201cWe have case managers that help connect [clients] with a primary care physician and a mental health [provider]. We offer education groups that help clients understand addiction, as well as closed, private groups where we [discuss] seeking safety [from domestic] violence, overcoming grief and loss<\/a>. We get to help deal with some of these core issues of why women use to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanPhoto Credit: Cole Novak
Operations Manager Michelle DeForrest (left) and former Kiva client Brittany Brooks.<\/p>\n

DeForrest understands clients\u2019 experiences intimately, since she, like many McAlister Institute staff members, is a graduate herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute I walked in that door [at Kiva], something was different,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI was done, I was tired, and I was ready. And I remember looking out at the women going, \u2018Holy shit.\u2019 Because it is very, very overwhelming when you\u2019re so broken, and you walk into this room full of women, and they\u2019re laughing. They\u2019re smiling. There are kids playing; they\u2019re having a warm meal. I remember feeling ready to just turn and run, and there was this one lady that smiled at me and said, \u2018Come eat with me.\u2019 And that made the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her ability to relate to what residents are going through has made a similar impact for people like Brittany Brooks, who entered the facility after DeForrest had recovered and become a counselor. \u201cI was in a relationship with somebody that had previous addiction problems, and so I got introduced to that life that way, and shortly after became pregnant with my first son,\u201d Brooks remembers. \u201cI had to fight with wanting to use and also wanting to be a mom, which is something that I always dreamed of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years of challenges followed. She was in and out of Kiva, struggling to maintain custody of her son. \u201cAlthough I didn\u2019t stay clean that [first] time, that was where the seed was planted,\u201d she adds. At the start of the pandemic, Brooks developed a blood infection from IV drug use. It turned into sepsis, and she had to have emergency open-heart surgery.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo Credit: Cole Novak<\/p>\n

Through the pain, she wondered, \u201c\u2018What happens to my son if I\u2019m gone?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI started going back to meetings. I started reconnecting with the people that once helped me save my life, and I just never looked back.\u201d Brooks had another child and, after managing two supermarkets, is in the process of opening her own. She celebrated five years of sobriety on October 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to do that because I learned so many tools here,\u201d she adds. \u201cThis is so much more than just a rehab. You learn how to live life, you know? There are people that have walked the same struggles as you and come out the other side, and that gives you hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanPhoto Credit: Cole Novak
Residents gather for meals and groups under this powerful reminder of their worth.<\/p>\n

Residents at Kiva often begin their stay in the nine-bed detox center<\/a>, which is exclusive to women to ensure trauma related to sharing space with men doesn\u2019t impact the clients\u2019 healing. Afterward, they move on to the 111-bed main facility, where they pass their days attending groups; adjusting to employment in roles like kitchen and laundry service or at the front desk; and, if they have their kids onsite, spending lunchtime and evenings with their little ones. It\u2019s a 30- to 90-day program, but clients can request a 30-day extension as needed.<\/p>\n

PARTNER CONTENT<\/p>\n


\n \"Why
\n Why San Diego\u2019s 45+ Community is Choosing Refractive Lens…
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"Faces
\n Faces of Healthcare 2025
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

In the dining room, a wall of big block letters reads, WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Here, that belief starts small: When you work in the kitchen, Michelle explains, you realize, \u201c\u2018If I don\u2019t show up for my shift, they don\u2019t get their coffee. And if they don\u2019t get their coffee, we have a house full of cranky women.\u2019 You start seeing those little things, and then you start feeling like you matter. And then you have purpose. And when you have purpose, you fight longer and harder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s an in-between moment at the Kiva Learning Center for Women and Children in Lemon Grove. The banana-yellow…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":451532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[1444,5229,1582,276,18473,3095,37443,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-451531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-1444","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-everything-sd","13":"tag-features","14":"tag-living-design","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115730869924607425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}