Golf tournament to raise funds for nonprofit seeking women’s sober house in RF

Peer Perspective is teaming up with Total Excavating for a golf tournament fundraiser that would help bring a sober house for women and children to River Falls.

Peer Perspective is a nonprofit …

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Golf tournament to raise funds for nonprofit seeking women’s sober house in RF

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Peer Perspective is teaming up with Total Excavating for a golf tournament fundraiser that would help bring a sober house for women and children to River Falls.

Peer Perspective is a nonprofit with the mission of creating safe and supportive recovery-focused housing for women and children. Kyle VanBlaircom, a leader with the nonprofit as well as a peer support specialist with Northwest Passage, said there are many sober houses for men where they can feel safe and supported through their recovery. He estimated about five locations in the River Falls area, while mentioning there are zero designed specifically for women’s substance use recovery, especially women with children. This can result in either families being split up or settling to live somewhere where the assistance is not fully focused on recovery from substance use.

“In the area, so I’m talking Pierce County, St. Croix County, Polk and then Dunn County, there’s two houses, I think, that even allow women in early recovery,” VanBlaircom said. “There’s no places that will allow them to bring their children.”

Kyle, along with other Peer Perspective leaders, have gone through the recovery process, so they have seen the need for something like this firsthand.

They would not stop at housing, connecting residents with “recovery programs, life skills training and family centered care,” ultimately reducing relapse rates. Another plan is to allow people to stay longer, as many current options only allow stays up to 30 days or a few months.

“You can come here for four months to maybe a year or even longer, depending on your need,” VanBlaircom said. “Kind of have that extra support.”

The house would fit seven-plus residents and a live-in house manager. VanBlaircom, his wife Sam and a few other community members started this nonprofit back in November 2023, and the housing project has come along quickly.

“It’s always been on our mind of how can we give back, and that’s part of our own program,” VanBlaircom said. “For a lot of the people that we support, we kind of hit this wall, and it always seems to be related to housing.”

Total Excavating has stepped in to help put on a golf fundraiser Sept. 26. The event costs $115 per ticket, featuring golf, lunch, cart usage and a T-shirt. There will be a silent auction featuring Twins tickets, Timberwolves autographed memorabilia and more at the River Falls Golf Club. There will also be a “potato cannon” that shoots golf balls. Competitors can pay to shoot their drive out of the cannon rather than taking a swing.

“It’s just really important, especially to support women,” Julia Zabel of Total Excavating said. “Now that we’ve gotten to know Kyle and everybody at Peer Perspectives a little bit more, we’ve learned about the sober community, specifically in River Falls and how there is really a lack of support systems for women.”

Registration for the event closes Aug. 17 with tickets available at donorbox.org/events/761021. Sponsorship opportunities for the event are also available by contacting juliaz@totalexcavating.org.

Peer Perspective, Total Excavating, fundraiser, sober house for women, River Falls, Wisconsin