Renee Arnett has ten years of experience with faith-based recovery through Christian 12 Step Ministry, a jail/prison ministry. She began leading recovery groups in January 2011 and has taught in churches, the Marion County Jail, and Lowell Correctional. She worked as one of Christian 12 Step’s program directors from March 2015 to April 2020. In that time, she branded the ministry, created their social media, revised its study guide, Walking the 12 Steps with Jesus Christ, revised two of their three correspondence courses, developed facilitator training, and built relationships within the community. Renee is certified by SMART Recovery as a group facilitator and by the Sarasota Academy of Christian Counseling for Creation Therapy, an evidence-based, biblical model for Christian Counseling.
Renee is passionate about helping women heal and empowering them to discover and pursue their God-given gifts and purpose. Renee shares, “I am a better wife, mother, sister, friend, and Jesus follower because of the personal healing I pursued.”
Jen has always been drawn to jobs where her work helps others. As a provider with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities for 13 years, she helped provide Behavior Analysis services to the developmentally disabled in the Central Florida area. Her love for all things organized, planned, and scheduled led her to start an event planning business. Fundraising became a natural part of that business, providing yet another way to help others. When Jen crossed paths with Renee, the founder of His House For Her, she knew there was something special about their common desire to help others. Jen assisted Renee with fundraising and social media at Christian 12 Step Ministry and has now joined in the efforts at His House for Her. “There are so many important details that have to happen behind the scenes for any business, ministry, or event to be successful. I’m thankful that God has brought together this team of women, each with the perfect combination of experience and gifts, to share the love of Jesus through His House for Her.”
Virginia has an MBA in finance and nonprofit administration and over 25 years experience as a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Development Officer, and Executive Director for nonprofit organizations with budgets of $100K to $95M. Virginia started her own consulting firm in 2017 that provides strategic planning, financial management, and nonprofit tax reporting services to nonprofit organizations.
Virginia is passionate about His House for Her because of her volunteer work with Christian 12 Step Ministry. Virginia shares, “It was a revelation for me that the 12 Step program could help people not only with addictions, but with all of the emotional strongholds and dependencies everyone experiences in life. I also came to understand the importance of housing and supporting women as they transition out of a life chained to pain and suffering and learn to live healthier to become strong members of the community.” Virginia’s passion in life is helping nonprofit organizations like His House for Her with a mission to help people and save lives.
Amber is a caregiver at heart; passionate about loving and serving God and hurting women. She oversees all aspects of our program and staff and manages our residents’ Care Plans.
Amber came to us with 13 years experience as a Special Care Counselor working for the Quebec Provincial Government. She’s trained to assess needs and then develop, implement, and evaluate goal-directed clinical interventions.
Amber has provided support to people with physical, cognitive, intellectual, neurological, emotional, and behavioral needs. Her time with us has shown she is quite qualified to work with women recovering from trauma and addiction and families in crisis.
Everyone who encounters Amber loves her! She is warm-hearted, empathetic and yet unmovable when needed, which serve her well in the area of conflict resolution. She thrives as a creative problem solver which is so needed when working in an emotional environment such as this.
We appreciate her Team Leader experience as she stepped right into motivating and inspiring each of us to be the best we can be!
We are so grateful she found her way to us and she has truly helped us create the trauma-informed healing space we desire.
Sue received credentials as a Certified Recovery Peer Specialist through the Florida Certification Board in 2017. She advanced her efforts to help others in December 2019 when she founded Together To Thrive, another local nonprofit organization that supports those on their journey of mental health/addiction recovery. She continues as their President and Executive Director and our ladies volunteer to help her with support activities of Together To Thrive.
Sue first began working with peer support groups in 2007 in Bennington, VT, and then in Ocala, FL, in 2015. This is the time that she and Renee met around the tables of various community conversations regarding mental health/addiction recovery.
Sue’s experience helping peers discover and use their strengths to develop skills and set goals for improved wellness and resilience makes her a perfect mentor for our ladies.
Sue provides pastoral coaching and house supervision; she’s a kind, but strong and stabilizing presence for our ladies. She’s also our certified facilitator for SMART Recovery. She manages meal planning, meal prep, and is always eager to jump in wherever she is needed.
We affectionately call her Ms. Sue around here and we couldn’t imagine the house without her!
Stephanie joined our team in April 2023. She is a resilient woman with 3 1/2 years of recovery under her belt. All of her meeting experience allows her to share so much of the wisdom of the 12 Steps with our ladies. She is a wonderful encourager. Having women to empower women is important to us. While Ms. Sue’s presence in the house is mother-like, Stephanie’s is sister-like. What a beautiful combination!
Stephanie lives on-site and leads morning devotions. She also provides house supervision, transportation, and is always eager to lend a hand whenever needed.
Stephanie shares, “I never imagined that a job could change my life so drastically. I will never forget the first time I stepped onto the property here. Without a doubt, I knew God was here! At this time in my life, I’d just started seeking God. The concept of God was very new to me because He’d not been a part of my life. I didn’t find Him to be good or bad or indifferent; He just wasn’t.”
Becoming part our team provided an opportunity for Stephanie to learn what life with God was truly about. Through a few of the classes offered in our program and therapy services, her life has changed. She found the healing that she never imagined was possible.
Stephanie shares again, “I can say with 100% certainty that my job changed my life! It’s made me a better employee and I am better equipped to share the things I’ve learned and my healing with our residents. I can show them, first-hand that recovery and healing are possible; that through God we can do anything!”
