Over 20 million people in the U.S. currently struggle with a substance use disorder.

Rebuilding a life after treatment is a major challenge.

In 2017, over 47,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. This number has soared during the pandemic, topping 100,000 deaths between April 2020 and  April, 2021. In our own Hamilton County, a monthly overdose tracker shows that 316 people - 11 per day - visited emergency rooms due to drug overdose in February of 2021.  

Even for survivors, it is a struggle to climb away from a history of addiction. Despite increases in government funding, 89% of people who struggle with opioid addiction cannot access the treatment they need. With the isolation and economic downturn of COVID, transforming an addiction-affected life to a healthy one is harder than ever for many affected individuals.

How we’re helping

 

  • My Sister's Garden supports Cincinnati area women healing from opioid addiction. Combining motivational interviewing and other evidence-based methods, our aim is to build community, skills, and resilience.

    Our Outpatient Therapy program provides continuing support from certified chemical dependency counselors and licensed social workers via both group and individual therapy. 

    Our Self-Sufficiency programs provide training in activities of daily living and soft job skills. To support professional success and build confidence, women participate in vocational training, agricultural programming (e.g. caring for goats, and making and selling goat's milk products) and Peer Counseling opportunities.

  • We have partnered with Excel Development Group to provide a much-needed affordable recovery home for women in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, opening in 2023. Our first location will offer resources to women in recovery (after 12 months of sobriety) including:

    -Long-term stay

    -A safe neighborhood 

    -Access to a house manager

    -Wrap around services:

    • medical & job transportation

    • schedule management

    • group & individual therapy

    • vocational training

Mission & Values

  • Our mission

    is to support the life-long success of women who have experienced the harms of addiction.




  • Our vision

    is to build a sense of inherent worthiness within each individual through spiritual connection, community teamwork and vocational training on an organic farm so as to empower women to live meaningful lives that contribute to others and maintain their own stable long-term abstinence from substance use

  • Our values

    include empathy, using a strength-based approach that is uplifting and not punitive, being culturally sensitive to each individual's needs, providing trauma-informed care, applying scientific rigor to follow evidence-based approaches with solid research backing, measuring outcomes and constantly striving to improve

Our Team

 

Board members are identified by last name in order to protect locations & identities.
Please feel free to contact us for more information.

 

Dr. Harris
Founder & President

Board-certified in General Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Harris has been employed full-time in an academic hospital since 2007. In 2017, she trained to prescribe Buprenorphine products and learned more about the needs of people with opioid dependence.

Dr. Harris realized that nearly all of her patients had a history of trauma and this led her to learn more about trauma-informed therapy. With mentorship, Dr. Harris was given the opportunity to co-facilitate dialectical behavior therapy groups with women in CHANGE court, a non-adversarial docket for survivors of human trafficking.

Dr. Harris believes that words can be used to build and heal. She is inspired by women who are willing to reinvent their lives despite years of adverse experiences. She believes they are all capable of greatness .

Ms. Winter
Vice President

With degrees in Paralegal Studies and Human Resources Management, Ms. Winter currently serves 14,000 employees as an HR Generalist. She shares, “I learned to love volunteering and helping others as a child working in a food pantry with my grandmother. From then on, I was enamored and became a lifelong volunteer.” 

Previously, Ms. Winter has supported women as a board member for La Leche League for seven years, and volunteering with the National Council of Christians and Jews, Girl Scouts of America, domestic violence shelters and multiple religious schools and organizations.  Her greatest achievement is earning two college degrees while working full time, and being a single parent to three children who are now amazing volunteers themselves. 

Mrs. Kash
Treasurer

Mrs. Kash holds a degree in international business management and various professional certificates in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. She is currently COO at a Cincinnati-area nonprofit, where she leads the day-to day-operations of the organization to connect and strengthen the local community.

Mrs. Kash is passionate about helping others, and using her skills as a manager, a mother of five and a community volunteer to empower women to find their voice. She says, “When Dr. Harris spoke to me about the work she was doing to help women who had experienced the harms of addiction, I was excited to be a part of this amazing organization to help improve outcomes for these women in our community.”

Ms. Weber, MS
Marketing Committee Chair

Ms. Weber has a MS in Psychology and currently works at a Diagnostics Center as an executive assistant. Previously, she was working with children and families that have felt the harms of addiction. Her desire to continue empowering this population led her to My Sister’s Garden where she serves as a Board Member and Chair of the Marketing Committee. She believes that all individuals deserve to know they are safe, important, and feel hope in the future.

Mrs. Boland
Secretary

Mrs. Boland is a social worker with experience working for non-profit agencies benefiting individuals with developmental disabilities. In her work for group homes, she was responsible for matching individuals up, taking into account functioning levels, temperaments, and other factors.  She has additional professional experience with quality assurance and corporate compliance.

Yehudis Epstein
Programming Committee Chair

Yehudis has a background in healthcare management and has assisted both established clinical practices and startups to operate smoothly and efficiently. 

Judge Heather Russell
Advisory Board

Judge Russell has been a Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge since 2002.  She created and presides over CHANGE Court, an Ohio Supreme Court-certified specialty court for sex-trafficked persons. She serves as a member of the Advisory Board for My Sister’s Garden, providing direction for how to seamlessly transfer sex trafficked persons with addiction, trauma and other challenges, into supportive housing. Judge Russell is the recipient of the 2018 Judge Julia Stautberg Award from the Cincinnati Bar Association's Womens' Committee for exemplary service, a 2019 UC Law Alumni Association's Outstanding Alumna Award, and a 2020 Cincinnati Enquirer Woman of the Year Award. 

Judge Russell says, "Having worked for over 7 years with the population that MSG will serve,  I'm excited for the housing opportunities that MSG will provide for CHANGE Court graduates, as they complete my program and move on to live independently.”