The Support Place Where HOPE Lives, a NJ Non Profit 501(c)3 Corporation, is very proud to bring inspirational and motivational peer support using an evidenced based plan of WRAP(Wellness Recovery Action Plan) to the communities in NJ.
The Support Place Where HOPE Lives and the Red Shoes Club recently had their very successful grand opening bowling fundraiser. This fundraiser also gave validation for the needs of the supports we offer in the area.
We would like to thank all of our volunteers, business and individuals who donated to our gift auction as well as many who donated monetary donations. And special thanks to Ocean Lanes for hosting and supporting us and another special thanks to my extended family and friends at Ocean Lanes.
Linda Meyer is the founder and President of The Support Place and shares her tremendous lived experience of emotional - physical - spiritual WELLNESS.
Linda Meyer created The Support Place to 'offer others what I couldn't find in my own struggles' and The Support Place has grown and moved from Toms River to Bricktown back to the old neighborhoods where Linda grew up.
The Support Place offers workshops and groups based on SAMHSA's 8 Dimensions of Wellness, WRAP and Peer Support as well as the incredible wealth of information Linda has learned about her own trauma and now shares with others.
Linda provides empathy and intuitive support in a non clinical atmosphere around a beautiful oak table where people begin to learn about themselves and then are able to help themselves as they learn to 'ride the wave instead of always getting knocked down'. From this incredible transformation many are now able to help others and our community wellness projects are growing because of this.
Group and workshop participants say there is 'magic going on' in these workshops and this has reduced hospital recidivism and minimized symptoms as people are making a transformation!. We are 'not defined by our diagnosis's'!
The Support Place and the workshops Linda has facilitated both in NJ and Philadelphia have helped support many people and there is no one who has completed the workshop that has ever returned to a hospital inpatient unit! This is incredible to share! We are doing something right!
The Support Place Where HOPE Lives provides supports to anyone in the community as people are learning more about their own wellness as they juggle work and life struggles which is why nights and weekend schedules are important to offer.
No matter what you are struggling with, The Support Place and peer support can help. Workshops are perfect for anyone struggling with addictions, mental health, trauma, physical health, grief, challenging relationships, suicide survivors, suicide attempt survivors or anyone who is looking for more wellness and empowerment in their life!
Wellness support groups that will be offered are Men's groups, LGBT, Women's empowerment, teen empowerment, emotional and physical wellness support and more!
The Support Place also recognizes that we need more FUN wellness in our lives and offers crafts, painting, zentangles, scrapbook groups, spiritual empowerment and more!
A little about Linda:
"I am a graduate from Rider College, a Certified WRAP Facilitator, Certified Recovery Support Practitioner, Certified Older Adult Peer Specialist and a Peer Specialist Supervisor. My professional experience includes working in a well known hospital in Philadelphia providing hope and support to others who are having life struggles.
Professionally facilitating groups, inspiring and supporting others through their journey has been the main focus of my work. My professional work also includes being a wellness advocate, consultant and educator.
I also have experience in conference presentations on a variety of recovery and wellness transformation topics and now I bring my work to NJ and offer others what I couldn't find in my own trauma struggles. I have also had many of my wellness transformation articles published in various publications over the last 5 years
I am a member of the State of NJ and Monmouth County Behavioral Health and Addictions boards, and also a member of the State of NJ Suicide Prevention Committee.
A few years ago I returned from San Francisco where I was a recipient of a fellowship sponsored by The Center for Dignity, Recovery and Empowerment which is part of MHASF. This fellowship has given me the validation to expand my programs and introduce the 'Red Shoes Club' as a way to change the stigma of someone feeling hopeless or suicidal. This includes offering suicide attempt survivor support since I am celebrating that 'I clicked my heels and chose to live'! This support provides what other suicide prevention organizations don't offer and that is peer support and the peer facilitation and educational wellness tool of WRAP.
In 2015 I was also awarded the "You Make a Difference" award from the Ocean County Mental Health Awareness Committee.
Recently I became a Reiki Practitioner and although personally I understand the struggle with having a trauma past and integrating spirituality and/or religion into healing, spirituality eventually became the wellness tool that helped me find my own transformation. So, I am sensitive to having a neutral "Healing From Within" workshops while integrating some spirituality into my work.
My husband and I are raising our 7 beautiful children, one with special needs, and my crisis was not only mine but my families as well and because of our unique family relationship, each and everyone of us are so individual and special that tolerance and understanding has been a strength that we have learned and now I am blessed to share this and inspire others".
More about Linda:
Linda Meyer founded The Support Place Where HOPE Lives in 2014 to offer others what she couldn't find in her own struggles of finding HOPE and support from anyone who had similar 'lived experience'. Linda struggled to find this in her own severe late life trauma crisis and with her struggles with an unknown life threatening physical illness in the early 2000's.
Linda struggled greatly when she couldn't understand 'why' this was happening to her and not understanding 'what was happening'. Linda felt so hopeless and struggled with finding the right help that she had over 27 psychiatric hospitalizations and struggled to find HOPE in ever feeling like herself again. She knew first hand how easy it was to feel like she wanted to end her life and attempted suicide many times.
Linda advocated and demanded to be treated and respected with compassion during her struggling times and continued to fight the mental health system, ER's, Police, hospitals, Dr's and medical staff to not be judged or defined by her diagnosis from the clinical world.
Linda fought the system and WON! She advocated to be understood and also learned why she was struggling and how to help herself without any psychiatric medications.
What Linda experienced in her 5 year crisis and all that she learned not only for herself as a 'patient' but also how the mental health field treats people with emotional struggles, is now what she offers through advocating, inspiring and educating anyone looking for their own wellness transformation.
This 'lived experience' is different than someone who is a clinician or licensed counselor because there is no counseling, just support and helping someone be aware of themselves and what they want to achieve in the self management of themselves.
What Linda learned through her experience and the tools she learned is so important to share with others who are struggling with anything in their life as she offers HOPE to everyone she meets.
More importantly, Linda learned that she had control of her life by understanding so much about herself and she did not only recover; but she transformed into a new person. The tool that helped Linda transform was the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). WRAP was developed by Dr. Mary Ellen Copeland and is a national evidenced based plan. This plan allowed her to understand her triggers, action plans and also understand the incredible strengths she had. She became a certified WRAP facilitator and the WRAP is the foundation for anyone with any struggles to find wellness again at The Support Place Where HOPE Lives.
Linda also realized there was no support or education for anyone struggling with their own feelings of suicide so instead of fearing this, she embraced this journey to again help others. Linda created the, Red Shoes Club, which represents those who 'clicked their heels' and chose to live and to celebrate they are alive!
By changing the stigma, reaching out to the community and offering support from people who have experienced this and offering the tool that saved her life, Linda's new mission is to reach out to anyone feeling hopeless or those who are 'suicide attempt survivors' and share the WRAP with them so they can help themselves.
Linda has lived it, learned from it and now has had 'a spiritual calling' to share this and help others.
In 2016, The Support Place Where HOPE Lives became a 501(c)3 non profit and the board consists of those who reached out for support and completed the 'Healing from Within' workshop which includes WRAP. They too have been 'transformed', found new friendships/supports and are now beginning the next steps of helping others through some of the community wellness outreach projects offered through The Support Place Where HOPE Lives.
For more information please go to www.thesupportplace.com - Call or Text Linda @ 732-604-1282 or email [email protected]
We are all 'REAL people helping people with REAL struggles'
