WINTER 2026

WOODHAVEN WAY

Winter brought deep connection, steady progress, and the quiet courage it takes to show up each day in our adolescent recovery community in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

WHAT WINTER BROUGHT

This winter, the boys at Woodhaven did the quiet, daily work of recovery. They committed to their step work, attended additional meetings by choice, and supported each other through arrivals and goodbyes, difficult days, and genuine breakthroughs. Their families and staff supported them, learning, growing, and deepening this community in ways that matter. Here are some of the highlights of this winter.

Connection, steadiness, and the quiet comfort of belonging

RECOVERY PRINCIPLES

Recovery grows in community, one honest day at a time

Recovery at Woodhaven is not an event. It is a daily practice, built in the spaces between meetings and meals, in honest conversations and quiet moments of accountability, and in the choice to keep going even when it is hard.

This winter, twelve step meetings remained a steady part of our week, both in the house and out in the community. We saw many residents lean in with greater consistency, and alongside that, we witnessed something especially meaningful. Some chose to attend additional meetings not because they were required to, but because they wanted more support, more connection, and a stronger foundation beneath them. That kind of quiet, self-directed choice is what long-term recovery looks like, and it does not go unnoticed.

Step work continued to evolve this winter in a way that felt steady and real. We watched young men take genuine ownership of the process, reflecting more deeply, sitting longer with difficult questions, and beginning to understand what recovery truly asks of them. Not perfection, but honesty. Not the absence of struggle, but the willingness to meet it with courage and keep going. Along the way, several residents strengthened their recovery supports by reaching for more guidance and accountability within the fellowship.

We also saw recovery take shape through service. Residents stepped into responsibilities with growing care and intention, learning in practice what the program teaches in principle: showing up for others strengthens your own footing.

This season, our community created something especially heartfelt: a Book of Wisdom to be shared with young people who are just entering treatment. It is a collection of real reflections, hard-earned lessons, and quiet encouragement, written by voices that understand from the inside. It is our way of reaching back and saying, you are not alone, and you can do this.

Even before a new resident arrives at Woodhaven, we want him to feel what community can be. We have a tradition of welcoming new residents with care and intention, often bringing a seasoned resident along for the ride, someone who remembers what it feels like to transition into extended care.

Before he ever walks through the door, the new resident chooses his favorite meal and his favorite cookie. It is a small action, but it carries a simple and essential message: you matter here. When he arrives, we gather for a community meeting, introduce everyone, share the rhythm of the house, and help him feel known from the very beginning. That first evening sets a tone. That welcome becomes the first step toward a feeling of belonging in this community.

Sometimes the most powerful support has no words at all. It is presence. A calm voice. Quiet laughter. A nod across the table. A shared meal. Someone who understands what it is like.

WOODHAVEN ACADEMY

Strong academics, deeper confidence, and a path forward

This winter, the students in Woodhaven Academy did more than complete coursework. They grew into more confident thinkers, more honest writers, and young men who are beginning to see what they are actually capable of.

Students completed analytical essays on Kafka's The Metamorphosis that were impressive, not just as literary analysis, but in where many of them took the work. They explored isolation, identity, and transformation. They reflected honestly on what it feels like to lose your footing and find your way back. Literature became a mirror, and our students were brave enough to look into it. We also saw a growing integrity in their work, as students leaned more into their own thinking and voice.

Our students enrolled in dual-enrollment courses through Keystone College are excelling. Their U.S. History professor shared that our students are performing at an exceptional level in her course, a reflection of genuine effort and growing confidence as learners. For young men who may not have believed that about themselves when they arrived, that kind of recognition carries real weight.

Public speaking continued to strengthen during our Black Freedom Struggle unit. Students researched specific historical scenarios, sharpened their use of evidence, and presented their findings with increasing poise and conviction. They are finding their voices, and learning that those voices have something worth saying.

This semester we also introduced Foundations for Success, a course built around the real skills of adult life. Budgeting. Housing. Health. Transportation. Communication and self-advocacy. Not abstractions on a page, but practical skills practiced in real time, so that independence feels like something our boys are growing into rather than something waiting to overwhelm them. Our first unit on financial independence was well received, and students will soon begin exploring careers through the lens of their own strengths, morals, and values, learning to choose paths that align with who they want to become.

Clinical Engagement

What happens in sessions carries into everything else

What happens in therapy does not stay in the room. We see it at the dinner table, in recovery groups, and in the way a young man handles a hard moment differently than he would have six months ago. Clinical engagement includes off-site individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric support, and it is woven into daily life, not separate from it.

Over time, the boys develop a different relationship with their own emotions. They learn to pause before reacting, to name what they are feeling, and to ask for help before things reach a breaking point. We see it in real moments: the way a resident handles disappointment without shutting down, the way he repairs after a misstep, and the way he reaches out before things escalate rather than after.

This winter, those shifts were evident and steady. More honest conversations. More accountability. More willingness to try again. One day at a time, these habits become a foundation.

RECREATION

Teens in recovery rediscover what it means to have fun

Recreation at Woodhaven is not an extra. It is part of how healing becomes real. It gives our boys a chance to rediscover joy, to remember what it feels like to be young, and to reclaim pieces of adolescence that addiction tried to steal. Through movement, creativity, and shared experiences, they practice healthy risk-taking, build friendships rooted in something real, and learn that connection can be safe.

Just as importantly, recreation creates the ordinary moments that matter most: laughing until your stomach hurts, trying something for the first time, cheering each other on, and ending the day with the feeling that you belong somewhere.

This winter brought a mix of off-site adventures and on-site rhythms. Our residents spent time at the YMCA for basketball and the gym, tried rock climbing, visited the aquarium, and took on escape rooms where teamwork was the only way through. They went bowling and roller skating, sometimes unsure at first, then genuinely surprised by how much fun it can be when you are willing to show up and try. We also made space for simpler nights out, including live music at a local coffee shop, dinners at local restaturants and moments that remind our boys that a sober life can still feel full, surprising, and worth protecting.

On campus, some of the best moments were the simplest. Game nights, ice cream, movies that opened the door to thoughtful conversation long after the credits rolled, and rainy evenings filled with Lego builds, basketball, and pool. These are the steady rhythms that help a house feel like a home.

Our college-age residents at Woodhaven on Mulberry stayed closely connected this winter, inviting residents to spend time at the college house and taking them out for meals. Those moments matter more than they may appear to. They show younger residents what the next chapter can look like, and they remind everyone that recovery is not only about staying away from something. It is about stepping into a life you genuinely want to protect.

And of course, there were community celebrations that simply felt good to share together: a Super Bowl party, a New Year's Eve with our Mulberry residents in the mix, and all the small moments in between that make a winter feel warmer.

FAMILY PROGRAM

Because recovery is a family journey

Families are at the heart of Woodhaven. Our Family Program is designed to surround parents with connection, education, and the support of people who truly understand this journey.

Each week, our virtual Family Support Group is a place where parents can exhale. The themes are often shared across families: learning to communicate differently, learning to hold limits with love rather than fear, learning to stay steady when the timeline keeps shifting. Over time, that weekly rhythm becomes its own kind of anchor, a space where parents gain perspective and strength, and realize they are not walking this road alone.

This winter we began something new. Once a month, we now offer a moms-only group and a dads-only group. Our dads group is facilitated by the fathers of our first two residents, men who bring honesty, humility, and hard-earned experience into the room. Watching them offer steady leadership to fathers who are newer to this journey is one of the more powerful things we have witnessed here.

Family Days remained a highlight, bringing residents and families together in ways that are active, connected, and real. This winter, families built birdhouses side by side, created gratitude chains, and moved through a full rotation of games and challenges that filled the room with laughter, and the kind of loosening up that happens when people stop performing and start being present with each other.

During our monthly in-person parent support group, parents receive support and strengthen their connections with one another. This winter, small-group rotations, guided conversation prompts, and shared projects provided opportunities to meet, talk honestly, and build relationships that continue beyond the day itself.

Family Days also include education, because parents deserve tools, not just encouragement. This winter we focused on step work, the recovery ecosystem, and practical strategies for supporting growth.

Healing can happen right alongside their loved one’s healing, not in spite of it.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Where young men begin to believe, to envision, and to plan

Strategic planning at Woodhaven is about helping each young man build a life of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. It is honest about where he is, clear about where he is going, and grounded in the supports that will carry him there.

This winter, two long-term residents returned home, and we are proud of them. Returning home is not an ending. It is a next step, and it takes real preparation and steady follow-through. We continue walking alongside them and their families.

At the same time, we welcomed new residents and watched our seniors look seriously at what comes next. Some are preparing to return home. Others are recognizing that transitioning to Woodhaven on Mulberry is the right next step as they move toward greater independence. Whatever the path, we walk it with them.

College planning moved forward with real momentum this winter. We are helping students think not only about where they can go, but where they can thrive. That lens matters at Woodhaven. We visited Penn State’s main campus, where our students connected with the collegiate recovery community and came home with a more tangible sense of what is possible. We also celebrated real decisions: two students have already committed to the University of Scranton and will live at Woodhaven on Mulberry as they begin that next chapter, with recovery and education supporting each other every step of the way.

Through our new Foundations for Success course, and our ongoing partnership with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, students are connecting their strengths and goals to practical resources and building a future that feels not just possible, but within reach.

WOODHAVEN ON MULBERRY

Recovery, college, friendship, and independence

The first-floor renovations at Mulberry are complete, and the space is warm, inviting, and a place the residents are proud to call home. It now includes two living rooms, a dining room, a game room with a pool table, a dedicated study space, and new artwork on the walls. Families joined us for an open house this winter and were able to see it for themselves. Construction continues upstairs, with three new bathrooms planned.

We are deeply proud of our young men who are attending college and trade programs, working in the community, and practicing the daily responsibilities that come with greater independence. They manage schedules, follow through on commitments, and navigate relationships with growing maturity, all while staying grounded in recovery. The friendships in the house matter, and so does the laughter.

Mentorship grows naturally at Mulberry. Our college-age residents stay closely connected to residents and staff at our New Hope Lane campus. They visit often, take younger residents out for meals, invite them to the college house, and offer encouragement rooted in lived experience. Recovery is not just something you maintain. It is something you pass forward.

HOLIDAYS AT WOODHAVEN

Celebrating the season as a community

From Thanksgiving through New Year's, we celebrated the holidays with family and our extended community. Some residents returned home. Others stayed at Woodhaven, and many families joined us here. We gathered around the table, shared meals, and made room for all that the season brings.

We shared two Friendsgivings this winter. During November Family Day, each family brought a favorite dish, and the room filled with the warmth that comes from people offering a piece of their home with one another. Our second Friendsgiving was different and just as meaningful: we were welcomed as guests at a young people's AA meeting, met with kindness and genuine inclusion, and reminded once again that community can become family.

We made space for holiday traditions in all their forms, including the lighting of a menorah, and held onto the simple moments that create belonging: cutting down a Christmas tree and carrying it home, decorating together, lighting the menorah and finding comfort in routines that remind our boys what it feels like to be part of something real.

A WINTER WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

What a snowstorm revealed about the community we have built

January brought a major snowstorm and nearly a foot and a half of snow. Safety came first and our staff was told to stay safely at home. Our co-founders remained on site throughout the storm and the cleanup, and it turned out to be one of the best weekends of the winter.

Inside, our community showed up in all the ways that matter. The boys shoveled and helped in the kitchen, looked out for one another, and found ways to make the most of being snowed in together. They tried sledding and improvised snowboarding on the property. Late night Dungeons and Dragons became its own kind of bonding. Somewhere in the middle of it all, we made and ate an impressive number of cookies.

It was one of those weekends that reminds us how much growth happens in ordinary moments. Pitching in without being asked. Laughing at something that had no reason to be funny. Being a community not because it is required, but because it has become who you are.

RECOVERY BEYOND WOODHAVEN

Because recovery extends beyond our community

This winter, we continued building relationships and strengthening the partnerships that help young people and families feel less alone on this path.

We were honored to welcome Arch Academy to Woodhaven. Their team spent a meaningful weekend with our community, joined a Family Day, and offered perspective to parents during our family programming. Program-to-program connections remind families that there are people doing this work with care and heart far beyond our campus.

Our co-founders continued professional development this winter at Turnbridge and shared best practices at Hazelden Betty Ford. We remain grateful for our ongoing colaboration with the Caron Foundation.

Some of our boys visited Guardian Recovery and spent time with their patients, enjoying some recreation time and bringing a meeting with them. There is something powerful about young men in recovery walking into a treatment setting and saying, without words: we were where you are, and we are here to share our experience, strength, and hope.

WITH GRATITUDE

We are grateful for our residents, who keep choosing this work, especially on the days when it is hard. When showing up anyway takes everything they have, and they show up anyway. Who bring honesty and courage and humor into this house every single day. Who try again after setbacks. Who ask for help even when everything in them wants to handle it alone. Who support one another in ways that no curriculum could plan for, and who remind us, again and again, why this work matters.

We are grateful for our staff, whose steady presence gives each boy something solid to stand on while he finds his footing. For the early mornings and the late conversations. For the patience they bring when a boy is struggling. For celebrating small wins with the same enthusiasm they give to the big ones. For believing in futures that are still taking shape.

We are grateful for families who show up, stay engaged, and keep learning alongside their sons, even when it is painful, even when the path keeps changing. Who do the work themselves so they can support the work their son is doing. Recovery does not happen in isolation, and neither does healing a family. You are part of this.

We are grateful for the friendships that form here, and for the mentorship that turns hope into something we can see. For alumni who come back. For Mulberry residents who reach back down the road. For every person who proves that recovery is real, and a full life is possible.

We are also grateful for our own families, who stand beside us through the long hours and the weight of this work, and who make it possible for us to show up fully each day. This season brought a beautiful reminder of that. Our Executive Director and his wife were married, and we celebrate them with full hearts. There is something deeply fitting about a man who has built his life around helping others find love and stability, finding it fully for himself. We wish them every joy.

We are grateful for every ordinary day that becomes a building block for a life worth living.

We are grateful for this community.