Courage to Search
A Collaboration with The Women’s Home and Houston Grand Opera

Since 1957, The Women’s Home, a Houston-based non-profit organization currently offers a residential treatment and transitional housing program, two permanent supportive housing programs, and a collaborative service center that offers support services to help prevent and end homelessness in our community. The Women’s Home employs a unique model of care called WholeLife®, which includes supportive services for all aspects of the person. In this way, The Women’s Home prepares women and their families to become empowered and productive forces in their communities.

Since March, 2013, the Institute has collaborated with The Women’s Home on a volunteer-driven program entitled Courage to Search, which helps women who have a history of substance use disorders, homelessness, incarceration, and domestic violence to better understand, embody, and articulate their spiritual/religious identity. The 14-week program consists of group sessions focused on various complementary aspects of spiritual identity, meaning-making, emotional intelligence, and self-care. In 2017, we began collaborating with Houston Grand Opera to bring a musical component to the program, which includes sessions focused on music and emotions as well as a field trip to the opera.

We have successfully brought 20 cohorts through the program, reaching over 200 individuals.

Testimonials:

“The Courage to Search taught me how to be open minded. I now know that I am loved and understood, and that I am on the right path.”

“Through Courage to Search, I learned that I am very spiritual, even though I didn’t realize that beforehand. The most amazing and wonderful things are free of charge despite how most people work so hard trying to obtain it.”

“I felt “less than” in the past, because of my past. But not anymore. Different ideas of spirituality and different points of view have enriched my spirit. I especially liked meditation and journaling.”