Hope Church & Forever Friendship invites people to Hope for the Holidays

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WLUC) - Inside the Iron Mountain Hope Church, Lead Pastor Anthony Miller plans the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration with Forever Friendship Executive Director Talitha Dahlquist.

Thanksgiving is the first holiday in their Hope for the Holidays partnership. Miller says the two groups met through the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce.

"When I was researching Forever Friendship, getting to talk to their director, I was able to see how aligned we are in being assets to our city and saving lives," Miller said.

The Hope for the Holidays program gives people struggling with mental illness or addiction a space to celebrate the holiday season with their peers. Each holiday features a meal, activities, and crafts.

Dahlquist says holidays can be difficult periods for some people.

"Our whole goal with the holidays is to reduce the suicide rate, to reduce the relapse rate and overdose rate, and to build a support network that will hopefully carry on throughout the year," Dahlquist said.

Forever Friendship can offer commuting services to Iron County residents who want to join each session.

Both Forever Friendship and Hope Church are non-profits and are accepting donations for the Hope for the Holidays program. Miller says the donations go straight towards supporting the events.

"Every dollar is going to go towards one of our holiday events from Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, every dollar is going to go towards providing meals, to providing activities, to providing crafts," Miller said.

Dates, times and donation links can be found on the Hope for the Holidays website.

Thanksgiving, Second Chance Saturday, Christmas Eve and Christmas events will be held at Hope Church Iron Mountain.

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa events will be held at The Forever Friendship Drop-In.