While some studies reveal that as much as three-quarters of AA members are male, it comes as a major surprise to many that one of the organization's founders was a woman, Mary Ignatia Gavin, who was known to thousands simply as Sister Ignatia.  

March is National Women's History Month. As we celebrate, it's only fitting to highlight a woman who touched the lives of so many afflicted individuals while working as a nurse for the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine that she became known as "The Angel of Hope."  

Born in the late 19th century, Sister Ignatia did the majority of her work with Dr. Bob Smith, and several of the tenants of her contributions include assigning medallions to members for achieving certain lengths of sobriety and providing a coffee bar in meeting places to combat their alcoholics' fixation with needing a drink-in-hand to feel comfortable. While no one true person is accepted as the founder of AA, her invaluable work across decades, alongside the likes of Smith, Bill Wilson, Sam Shoemaker, and Dr. William Duncan Silkworth, has been the difference in saving many a life.  

Sister Ignatia is hardly the only woman who has had a hand in improving and expanding the ways in which recovery from addictions is dealt with. The first treatment center for women with alcohol problems was named for Martha Washington, and opened in Chicago in the 1860s.   

The person whose name is more synonymous with recovery from addictions than perhaps any other is the late, great Betty Ford, whose world-famous recovery center and charitable contributions actually eclipsed those of husband Gerald's single term as US President. An advocate for women's rights, right to life, and breast cancer awareness during her days in the White House, Ford was confronted by family members with an intervention in the late 1970s due to her alcoholism and abuse of painkillers. Moved by their care and love, she opened the Betty Ford Center in California four years later, serving as chair of the board of directors until 2005. She passed away in 2011.

The Morton Center opened just two years after Betty Ford launched her facility. In the three decades since opening, we have treated nearly 35,000 patients suffering from chemical dependency and other addictions.

Our co-founder, Jane Morton Norton, and CEO, Priscilla McIntosh, are just two examples of the amazing roles that women continue to have in the addiction field. They give us two more reasons to celebrate National Women's History Month.

At The Morton Center, we help our clients find sobriety, better health and better relationships every day. But we couldn't do it without our faithful donors, women and men.  

We're thankful for your partnership with us.  

 The Morton Center