Community of Grace Organization Inc. - COGO

10/04/2026

10/02/2026

We are growing together at SistraHood Rising Circle! 💜🌸

Tonight, Community of Grace Organization (COGO) gathered with women in person and on Zoom for “My Story: Where I Am Today.”

Through three reflection questions, we explored our strengths, the support we need, and the changes we want to make. Our conversation touched on gratitude, humility, and shifting patterns passed through generations. We recognized that we can be changemakers—and that it’s okay to be still and give ourselves time to grow.

Thank you to every Sistra who shared, listened, and offered encouragement. Your presence made this evening meaningful.

There is room for you in our circle!

🌸 First Thursdays: Guided conversations, personal growth, peer support, and resources.

🌿 Third Thursdays: Mindfulness & Meditation with Jan Hummer, Certified Mindfulness Specialist, beginning October 15. This series is supported through Justice and Recovery Advocates, Inc. and All Great Things LLC.

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Free for women 18+ | In person or on Zoom

In partnership with Justice Jobs of Maryland at Federated Charities, 22 S. Market Street, Suite 110, Frederick, MD 21701.

Register to receive joining information:
https://forms.gle/ZAwfWbNu4unqs17U8

Please share our flyer and invite a Sistra who could use connection and support. 💜

Welcome • Release • Breathe

09/20/2026

Recovery, Prevention, Wellness, and Community Connection 💜

Community of Grace Organization (COGO) was honored to participate in the 2026 Recovery Month Kickball Tournament at Pinecliff Park!

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Frederick County Health Department and the Frederick County Department of Social Services for hosting this wonderful annual event and inviting COGO to participate. The tournament brought together local treatment and recovery organizations for a beautiful day of recovery, family, fellowship, and hope.

While adults participated in the kickball tournament, children and teens joined COGO for an interactive prevention activity focused on the risks of va**ng, smoking, and substance misuse. They learned through open conversation, prevention bingo, questions, and prizes.

We sincerely thank the parents and guardians who trusted us to engage with their children. Prevention begins when caring adults create safe spaces where young people can learn the facts, ask questions, and feel heard.

COGO also gratefully acknowledges SAMHSA’s Communities Talk initiative for the planning stipend that helped make this youth prevention activity possible. Thank you to Sharon Lee from A2Z Family Service for facilitating, a great interactive session.

We were also proud to share our “Voices of Recovery” PhotoVoice Exhibit. By combining photographs with personal reflections, PhotoVoice helps women share their lived experiences of recovery, trauma, grief, motherhood, resilience, and hope. These are more than photographs they give women an opportunity to reclaim their stories and help the community understand the real people and families behind the word “recovery.”

Throughout the day, we spoke with women preparing to transition from treatment into sober living, recovery housing, employment, and the next stage of their lives. We reminded them that recovery does not end when treatment ends and they do not have to take their next steps alone.

Through COGO’s Sistrahood Rising Circle, women and young mothers build supportive relationships, connect with resources, strengthen their wellness, and work toward new goals. We are proud that some of our sisters recently completed doula training, while another is preparing to begin a new journey through military service.

Our first-Thursday sessions focus on resources, opportunities, connections, and community building. Our third-Thursday sessions focus on empowerment, nonclinical mental-health wellness, self-care, and the Eight Dimensions of Wellness.

When a mother feels supported, grounded, and connected, her children are better positioned to grow and thrive.

🗓️ First and third Thursday of each month
⏰ 5:30–6:30 p.m.
💻 Hybrid—in person or online
📍 Justice Jobs of Maryland
22 South Market Street, Room 110
Frederick, Maryland 21701

Women in recovery, young mothers, and women seeking encouragement and community are invited to join us.

Registration link: https://forms.gle/ZAwfWbNu4unqs17U8

Come as you are you do not have to walk this journey alone.

Community of Grace Organization
Welcome • Release • Breathe.

09/01/2026

Recovery Month is deeply personal to me. It is about living and leading with compassion, and hope.

I have been in long-term recovery for 34 years, but life has not always been easy. Trauma leaves scars, and grief can bring you to your knees.

When my son was murdered, my entire world changed. I had to choose recovery again not because I had lost it, but because I needed it to hold me. Recovery did not stop me from grieving; it helped me move through grief without losing myself. It reminded me to keep breathing, take one step at a time, and hold on to my purpose.

As Founder and Executive Director of Community of Grace Organization (COGO), I pour into women, young people, and families. But before I could keep showing up for others, I had to show up for Barbara. I had to slow down, care for myself, ask for support, and offer myself the same grace and compassion I give to others.

That was not weakness. That was recovery in action.

Today, I understand that I am recovering from more than substance use. I am healing from childhood trauma, grief, silence, survival mode, and everything that no longer serves the woman I am Becoming. Recovery is not pretending the pain is gone; it is learning to carry what happened without letting it take away my life, peace, or purpose.

My son’s murder and my childhood trauma are part of my story, but they do not define my future.

I choose to recover out loud because someone struggling to hold on may need to hear this: Give yourself a chance. Slow down. Breathe. Feel what you feel. Ask for help. Release what no longer serves you.

Even in the roughest times, light, hope, and purpose remain.

Today, I choose RECOVERY from anything that no longer serves my peace, purpose, or future.

With hope comes resilience.

Recovery is possible.
Hope is alive.
Healing happens in community.