FLORENCE, S.C. --

Circle Park Behavioral Health Services and its Chrysalis Center hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to announce its new health and fitness room that was funded by a grant from Florences Women in Philanthropy and the Junior Welfare League.

Thelma Alexander, Chrysalis Center Director, said, We are excited to be establishing a health and fitness room and provide nutritional counseling for our residents. This will allow us to ensure an enhanced holistic approach to services that we can provide to our women and increase their opportunity for a successful recovery.The Women in Philanthropy and the Junior Welfare League share our mission to improve the quality of life of children and families in our community and it is a thrill to partner with them on this effort.

The Chrysalis Center is a unique, 16-bed, extended residential treatment facility that offers chemically dependent mothers the opportunity to receive intensive treatment services while continuing to have their childrenyounger than 11live with them. Research indicates that while undergoing treatment, women often replace their drug of choice with a food addiction and often demonstrate unhealthy weight gains, as much as60 pounds in the first year. Compounding the problem, children often model their eating behaviors after their parents and as their parents weight increases, so does theirs.

The Junior Welfare League of Florence and the Women in Philanthropy provide a powerful and highly personal approach to improving the quality of life through their volunteer support and efforts in the Florence community.Their grant funding insures that innovative and effective strategies are utilized to foster social, economic, educational, cultural improvement in our community. In order to address the serious health issue of mothers experiencing addiction issues, the Chrysalis Center received grant funding from these two civic organizations to establish a fitness and exercise room to be incorporated into the weekly treatment plan for the residents.

Beverly Hiller of The Eastern Carolina Community Foundations Women in Philanthropy shared that most of the groups grant funding is targeted toward the needs of women and children.

This is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Circle Park Behavioral Health Services and its Chrysalis Center to provide a unique and innovative addition to their services.This is one of the nine grants that we awarded this year and it is wonderful to have an opportunity to visually witness and experience the impact it will have on the lives of the women receiving services here."

The grants goals are for the Chrysalis Centers residents to exhibit a more consistent and disciplined approach to daily exercise, demonstrate improved nutritional habits, and model healthier lifestyle habits that will support their overall recovery efforts.This will be done by the establishment of an onsite health and fitness room that will include a variety of exercise equipment and machines that will be utilized regularly by the Chrysalis Centers residents to support the grants goals.Also, as part of this funding, the Chrysalis Center residents will receive a weekly group counseling session by a registered dietician to assist them in making healthy food choices and meal planning.

The Chrysalis Center is operated and managed by Circle Park Behavioral Health Services, the Florence County authority on alcohol and other drug abuse services. For more information on the services available at the Chrysalis Center, call 843-673-0660.

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Circle Park holds ribbon cutting for its new health and fitness room