Crystal Lake nonprofit aims to help people in recovery from addiction

When Stages of Transformation co-founder and manager Bryan Fuchs started going through addiction recovery, he noticed that housing and employment could make recovery that much more difficult.

This inspired him and his mother to start a nonprofit that offers trauma support, job skills, education support and other resources to people in recovery. Everything they provide is free, Stages of Transformation founder and President Colleen Fuchs said.

“We wanted to have programs and services to help people get on their feet,” Colleen Fuchs said.

Almost three years after starting the organization, Stages of Transformation officially opened its own space at 820 McArdle Drive, Unit C, in Crystal Lake on June 22.

The space has a kitchen, a computer room and a large area for meetings and events. Fuchs is looking to host sober events, game days and yoga classes at the location.

“This space represents hope,” she said. “Everybody needs somebody to believe in them.”

Stages of Transformation is hosting a gala fundraiser Saturday at Hickory Hall in Crystal Lake. Colleen Fuchs’ goal for the event is to raise enough money to support the organization for the next year.

The most challenging part is financing the nonprofit, Colleen Fuchs said. There is steep competition for receiving grants that many nonprofits apply for.

“There are some wonderful nonprofit agencies in Crystal Lake that are very needed, but we’re all going for the same amount of money,” she said.

The next big step Colleen Fuchs wants to take is to buy a van to transport future clients from the train station to their location and anywhere else they need. But, most importantly, Bryan Fuchs wants the organization to stay financially stable because people depend on its services.

Bryan Fuch’s long-term goal is to make a “three-quarter” sober living apartment complex. He said his peers in recovery saw housing as the biggest struggle because finding a place to live can be hard with felony charges on their records.

“It takes a lot to get to that point,” he said. “This is doable for where we’re at right now.”

Bryan Fuchs hit a milestone in his recovery and he was invited to speak at this year’s graduation for the McHenry County courts to represent the mental health court program in which he once participated.

Colleen Fuchs said the McHenry County Mental Health Court program saved her son’s life, and seeing him speaking at the graduation as a “full-circle” moment.

“There’s approximately 150 clients going through the programs right now that would greatly need what we have, especially at no cost,” she said.

Along with the goals to get a van and a sobriety living space, Colleen and Bryan Fuchs are open to ideas on what they can provide in the future, as long as it’s supportive of what people in recovery need.

“We’re faithful that this will be what it needs to be for the community,” Colleen Fuchs said. “The sky’s the limit.”