HANSON -- The Family Healing and Recovery Ministry uses prayer and community to combat the shame, guilt, and isolation that result from having an addiction or walking alongside a loved one with an addiction.

Now in its 10th year, the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry began with a married couple, Karen and Frank McWilliams, a nurse and an engineer, respectively. Their son Nicholas struggled with substance use in his teen years, and in 2009, he entered a Cenacolo Community to help him. While he was there, the McWilliamses attended monthly meetings with other participants' family members, to help them understand what their loved ones were going through. When their son came out of the community, they could no longer attend these meetings, which meant they no longer had a place where they could talk about their experiences.

"When I found that we didn't have that anymore, I had to do something," Karen McWilliams said in a June 23 interview.

They looked for other alternatives but could not find many that had faith as a component, which had been crucial for them in their journey. So, they began holding meetings in a private home. As the number of attendees grew, they relocated the meetings to Holy Ghost Church in Whitman, later alternating with Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Carver and St. Joseph the Worker Church in Hanson.

Karen Wenger, a nurse who taught Karen McWilliams at St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, began coming to the meetings at a friend's invitation. She initially expected the ministry to be similar to Alcoholics Anonymous or similar programs. But she found it to be very different. Instead of everyone sitting in a circle, visible and vulnerable, the meeting focused first on prayer, with a less formal time to talk with each other afterwards. No one was forced to share their experience, but there were open ears and open hearts for anyone who wanted to do so.

"There's anonymity in it if you want it, (and) there's engagement if you want it," Wenger said.

One thing that stood out to her was when they were praying the rosary together and participants were invited to name the people they were praying for. Not everyone spoke, but the ones who did each listed several names. Wenger realized that this was "a safe place for them, to bring their pain and their fear, to be with other people who knew their pain and their fear, and to give it to Jesus."

"I was touched, and I was moved in a way that I hadn't been by addiction before," Wenger said.

Taking place once a month, the meetings have typically consisted of an intercessory rosary, Eucharistic Adoration or a celebration of Mass, a guest speaker giving a talk, and time for food and fellowship.

Karen McWilliams said they try to have diverse speakers. Some are involved with similar ministries, have personal experience with addiction, or have a family member in recovery. They plan to have a retired police chief at their next meeting, since people struggling with addictions may not have positive experiences with police or other authority figures.

"There's always a little something for everyone. But I always find that even if there's a last-minute cancellation, and someone else steps up to speak, there's always a reason," Karen McWilliams said.

"I never worry about that, because it's always touching someone's heart," she added.

The McWilliamses suffered a personal loss in 2019 when their son, Nicholas, passed away at the age of 27. But they found that the community they had built up through their ministry was there to support them. By then, the number of monthly participants was around 60 or 65.

"The people we were ministering to came and ministered to us. And that's what makes a good group, that everyone helps each other out," Karen McWilliams said.

Four months later, Frank McWilliams took a job in a sober home, where he could talk with young men having similar struggles.

"There's a lot that has come from this, not only healing our wounds but helping others," Karen McWilliams said.

When the pandemic prevented them, and many other addiction recovery programs, from meeting in person, they switched to a remote format, live streaming their prayers and guest speakers. The ministry seemed even more important at this time, when the lockdown kept people in recovery from accessing the services they needed. According to Wenger, the rates of both opioid deaths and non-fatal overdoses increased in 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, Wenger and Karen McWilliams livestreamed a workshop for the Westberg Symposium, a multi-day conference for faith community nurses, about their experience with remote ministry. While preparing for this, they were amazed to discover how many people had been watching the live streams: they averaged 250 people per meeting, with viewers as far away as Florida and Wisconsin, and even other countries like Canada, Ireland, and Uganda.

Wenger said she thought people's ability to hear them and communicate via online chat was "very helpful in a period that was really stressful."

Coming out of the pandemic, they resumed holding in-person meetings at a single location, St. Joseph the Worker Church. They have also been holding funeral and memorial Masses for people who died of overdoses during the pandemic, when it was not possible to have large gatherings.

At one point, Wenger said, they made "Thinking of you" cards for one participant's son who was incarcerated.

"For him, being in jail because of his substance use, he felt supported by complete strangers who wanted him to succeed. I think that's a big impact," Wenger said.

She said they are now seeing new faces and greater numbers at the meetings than before the pandemic.

"It's built a community of people who genuinely care about each other," Wenger said.

At Wenger's nomination, Karen McWilliams received a community service award from the American Nurses Association in honor of her work in the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry.

"Karen's calm, nonjudgmental, and loving demeanor is evident when she greets newcomers and faithful participants alike. Through her ministry, Karen does much to overcome the stigma and shame associated with addiction," Wenger said in her nomination letter.

Karen McWilliams said she always encourages people who want to replicate their ministry, even if on a smaller scale, in their own parish communities.

"I just want people to know we're here and support other churches that want to bring it to their church," she said.

For those who want to start similar groups, Wenger said the most important thing is to be welcoming and nonjudgmental.

"Be a place where people can come and feel safe," she said.

More information about the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry is available at www.rosary4recovery.org.