Designation Awarded During Recovery Nonprofit’s 30th Anniversary
LOS ANGELES (Sept.14, 2023)– As it celebrates 30 years of excellence, SHARE! the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange, is proud to announce that it has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator.
This rating designates SHARE! as an official “Give with Confidence” charity, demonstrating that SHARE! is using its donations effectively based on Charity Navigator’s criteria. Charity Navigator is America’s largest and most-utilized independent charity evaluator.
Since 2001, Charity Navigator has been an unbiased and trusted source of information for more than 11 million donors annually. It analyzes nonprofit performance based on Impact & Results, Accountability & Finance, Culture & Community, and Leadership & Adaptability.
“We are delighted to provide SHARE! with third-party accreditation that validates their operational excellence,” said Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator. “The Four-Star Rating is the highest possible rating an organization can achieve. We are eager to see the good work that SHARE! can accomplish in the years ahead.”
The first-of-its-kind self-help support group agency, SHARE! was founded by a group of self-help meeting attendees that had gathered in the living room of Ruth Hollman, who has served as the nonprofit’s CEO since its inception. Three members came up with the name“SHARE!” because people heal by sharing their stories, strength and hope. Another community member donated an existing nonprofit, the Emotional Health Association, of which SHARE! became the sole project. The attendees then formed a board to bring this vision to life.
SHARE! opened its doors in 1993 and has never wavered from its mission: to help individuals pursue personal growth and change, empowering them to transform their lives. SHARE! provides a loving, safe, non-judgmental place where individuals can find community, information and support.
In 1995, I hosted the first SHARE! Recovery Awards (which continues to highlight contributions to self-help support groups) and became the first peer-run organization in Los Angeles County to be awarded a contract with the Department of Mental Health. In 2005, it launched SHARE! Collaborative Housing with the capacity to house 20,000 mental health consumers over the next five years.
Today, SHARE! Collaborative Housing is the premier non-abstinence based, housing first recovery housing for people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues. In the past year alone, SHARE! Collaborative Housing housed 537 people. By removing barriers, SHARE! houses people quickly—41 percent are housed within 24 hours. Ninety-six percent of people in SHARE! Collaborative Housing maintain housing over four years.
SHARE! opened a self-help center in downtown Los Angeles in 2009, and has received numerous honors through the years, including the Outstanding Program Award for Improving Mental Health in Los Angeles County by the Los Angeles County Mental Health Commission in 2013, and the Distinguished Contributions to Practice in Community Award from the American Psychological Association in 2016.
In 2017, Loyola Marymount University recognized SHARE! for its Advanced Peer Specialist training and honored SHARE! for its Peer Training Program, which helps participants learn evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for others, including better mental health, employment, education and housing.
Additional accomplishments are as follows:
- SHARE! Culver City and SHARE! Downtown in Los Angeles currently host 129 self-help support group meetings (including 12-step groups) each week online and in-person.
- Since 2019, SHARE! Collaborative Housing has housed more than 2,700 mental health consumers in Los Angeles with annual budgets that have just hit $2 million.
- SHARE! Advanced Peer Specialist Training has prepared 867 people for behavioral health jobs since 2016. In 2022, SHARE! was approved to train people for Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification.
- SHARE! Recovery Retreat began serving mental health consumers and their families in 2013. This two-week peer respite program helps people discover what they can and want to do with their lives.
- SHARE! Collaborative Housing serves vulnerable populations. Forty-nine percent of residents are seniors (55+). Its residents had high levels of community participation including:
- 57 percent are employed.
- 75 percent attend self-help support groups.
- 20 percent pursue education.
- 68 percent volunteer.
“I’m so proud of SHARE!’s evolution and our ability to create innovative programs to meet the expanding needs of our community,” Hollman stated. “We remain committed to fulfilling additional requirements for those in recovery, all while remaining true to the foundational principles upon which this organization was built, principles that continue to guide us today.”
About SHARE!
Since 1993, SHARE! the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange has served Los Angeles through self-help support groups and building communities which provide recovery and social support. Participants develop skills to cope with substance use, trauma, mental health issues and dysfunctional relationships.SHARE! contributes to ending homelessness in Los Angeles by housing those in need within the first couple of days of contact and finding them jobs so they no longer need government subsidies. Residents’ participation in self-help support groups ensures that they do not return to homelessness. This proven formula gives homeless people a pathway out of poverty and a way back to becoming full participants in society. For more information, visit https://shareselfhelp.org.
About CHARITY NAVIGATOR
Founded in 2002, Charity Navigator is a 501(c)(3) organization that guides intelligent giving with the nation’s largest, most comprehensive charity evaluation tool. The organization helps donors easily identify U.S.-registered charities making a difference on the issues they care about most while helping charities better understand their donors, deliver on impact, and increase awareness and funding. Learn more at www.charitynavigator.org.
