...enough just the way I am
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Voluntarism in the Eating Disorder Community
IAEDP San Diego Newsletter Issue: 3 2011
Hallie Kotrla
Founder/CEO, I AM Foundation
"My name is Hallie and I am in recovery from an eating disorder. After my first year of sobriety from an opiate addiction, a women I had known and respected said, "Hallie, I know a lady who has 35 years of sobriety, but every day of her 35 years she binges and purges. What kind of recovery do you want?" I knew then and there that I was not fully in recovery yet. I had been seeing therapists and psychiatrists off and on since I was 17, and had never heard of eating disorder meetings; I didn't know what to do or where to go. I knew what had worked for me with my opiate addiction so I got a sponsor, saw a therapist and psychiatrist, went to AA meetings, was of service, and surrounded myself with women that I allowed to love me until I could love myself. Today I have 3 years in recovery from an eating disorder.
Over the course of my recovery, I sponsored women who shared the same struggles as I did. They were clean and sober from drugs/alcohol, but food issues were popping up. I didn't know where to send these women so I started my own free eating disorder meeting at The Rock Church. At first 2 women came, then 5, then 13, then 19, and they kept coming back. I was so excited that I started another meeting in North County where 30 men and women were showing up. As of today, my non-profit, I AM, offers 4 support groups a week, temporary or permanent mentors/sponsors, our own 12-Step Eating Disorder Curriculum, free events, talks at the local colleges and university sororities, gave an awareness interview on the news, created a step by step video about how other people who are passionate can go do what I did in their own community, helped several people get into treatment, and created a referral list of resources all without taking 1 cent.
I am happy to say that I have been able to reach over 2,000+ lives around the U.S., and I am not stopping. I do this because I don't want to forget what it was like for me; I do this to set an example to other women in recovery to give back; I do this because I am giving back a gift that was freely given to me."
Founder/CEO, I AM Foundation
"My name is Hallie and I am in recovery from an eating disorder. After my first year of sobriety from an opiate addiction, a women I had known and respected said, "Hallie, I know a lady who has 35 years of sobriety, but every day of her 35 years she binges and purges. What kind of recovery do you want?" I knew then and there that I was not fully in recovery yet. I had been seeing therapists and psychiatrists off and on since I was 17, and had never heard of eating disorder meetings; I didn't know what to do or where to go. I knew what had worked for me with my opiate addiction so I got a sponsor, saw a therapist and psychiatrist, went to AA meetings, was of service, and surrounded myself with women that I allowed to love me until I could love myself. Today I have 3 years in recovery from an eating disorder.
Over the course of my recovery, I sponsored women who shared the same struggles as I did. They were clean and sober from drugs/alcohol, but food issues were popping up. I didn't know where to send these women so I started my own free eating disorder meeting at The Rock Church. At first 2 women came, then 5, then 13, then 19, and they kept coming back. I was so excited that I started another meeting in North County where 30 men and women were showing up. As of today, my non-profit, I AM, offers 4 support groups a week, temporary or permanent mentors/sponsors, our own 12-Step Eating Disorder Curriculum, free events, talks at the local colleges and university sororities, gave an awareness interview on the news, created a step by step video about how other people who are passionate can go do what I did in their own community, helped several people get into treatment, and created a referral list of resources all without taking 1 cent.
I am happy to say that I have been able to reach over 2,000+ lives around the U.S., and I am not stopping. I do this because I don't want to forget what it was like for me; I do this to set an example to other women in recovery to give back; I do this because I am giving back a gift that was freely given to me."
