About Us

Prior to our work in family recovery, I was working at a local JK-12 school as a middle school health and physical education teacher, committee chair for the school drug prevention program and school wellness coordinator for students and staff. My son started struggling with substance use when he was in upper school at this same school. While I was well educated on what to look for, I felt challenged to find support and guidance that aligned with our values as a family. We found ourselves ill equipped to face the problems that arose from substance use and the stigma of addiction. His substance use was very public, which at first, made life very uncomfortable. As we navigated his health challenges, we stumbled upon a path that spoke to my mother heart, we began to change our way of being with our son which had a ripple effect not only on our family system but also our community. People began coming to me for help when they became concerned about their own children.

 

As a result of my lived experience and the calls for help in my community, I felt a pull to start a new chapter. In 2019, I left teaching after 21 years to start Illume Family Recovery. I didn’t want families to feel like I did - struggling to cope, not knowing where to turn, spending a great deal of time and money seeking resources, unable to communicate and connect with our son, all while feeling lost, frustrated and alone.

 

As our family navigated treatment and recovery, I found the BALM Family Recovery program, an evidence-based education and family recovery coaching program. Within 3 months of participating, I felt better educated, supported and we had a noticeably healthier family system.  I decided I wanted to do the same for families struggling so I enrolled in the year long BALM coach training program. I'd experienced the gap in education, support and tools for family members and loved ones in our community and decided to fill that gap for other families with Illume Family Recovery programs. Illume's programs educate, equip and empower families on their recovery journey using the BALM coaching model as well as other evidence based models such as Invitation to Change and CRAFT.   - Kathy Wrenn, Founder & Executive Director

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