What Are CORE Clients Thankful For?

As Thanksgiving approaches, we at CORE are grateful for the abundant blessings that God has bestowed upon us. He has granted us the miracle of recovery and the opportunity to help others in need. We are humbled by God's grace and the many favors that we have received.

At a recent CORE event, we chased down as many of our clients as we could catch and asked them a simple question: “Who or what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?” While some seemed a bit nonplussed by the recorder placed before them, each took a deep breath and summoned the courage to speak. We think everybody had something valuable to share. Here are their awesome responses!

“I’m really indebted to God for my recovery. He’s at the forefront; my recovery starts and ends with Him. For my friends and all the staff at CORE, I’m very thankful. I’m glad that I can enjoy life today, as opposed to the 25 years of what it was before.” – Adam G

“My relationship with the Lord is most important, because I couldn’t have done this without Him. I’m very blessed today. And it’s because of Him that I was able to repair things with my mom and my dad. That’s awesome, because I never thought that would happen. And I love the fact that I have a job where I can help people. I get to oversee the greatest group of girls ever, and I’m very grateful for that.” – Robin T

“I’m grateful for sobriety and recovery. I’m so thankful for my daughter. I’ve got a great daughter, you know? She’s such a good kid, and I’m so happy to be there for her again. Also, I’m very blessed that she’s got a good mother.”  – Christopher M

“God, for His grace and forgiveness. For saving me and allowing my recovery. I’m happy to be alive today. And thankful for CORE, too, because this program saved my life.” – Audrey H

“I wouldn’t be where I’m at if not for God. He’s been my rock through all this. Sobriety isn’t always rainbows and sunshine, but he makes challenges manageable, somehow easier. I’m also thankful for the people in my life pushing me to grow. With their love and support I’ve been able to strive and achieve my goals.” – Gavin L

“There’s so many people. First and foremost, I’m thankful to God, who gave me a second chance at life. And for this program, the women at my house, and my children and people looking after them. I’m grateful to be alive today.” – Katie R

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Robin Trotter: Making a Difference 

Meet Robin Trotter! Robin is our new women’s admissions coordinator at the Branson recovery center. She stepped into the job when Jen Brinkmann made a lateral move to our finance department. As the point of contact person for our female clients, Robin now has many important responsibilities.  

We recently had the pleasure of spending several hours talking with Robin in preparation for this article. Our original intent was to focus on her addiction and subsequent recovery but, for obvious reasons, our conversation kept gravitating toward her new job, and especially her hopes and dreams for the women under her care.  

Robin works at CORE because she is talented and has a heart for God. In this sense, she is similar to all of our employees. Nevertheless, while she is gifted and spiritually devoted, our interview uncovered one curious detail that definitely sets Robin apart from the rest of our staff. This little known fact has to do with her morning commute to work.

Every morning, our employees travel from all over the Tri-Lakes region to get to our Branson location. Once we’ve put on our sunglasses and messed with the car radios, our trips take several minutes or more. For some, the drive takes more than a half-hour. Robin’s morning jaunt, by contrast, is on an entirely different scale.

When Robin puts on her seatbelt and checks to make sure she has everything needed for her busy day ahead, her commute takes – wait for it – seven seconds!

It takes longer to put on shoes and socks than it takes Robin to drive to work, owing to the fact that she lives right next to our Branson recovery center. Her trip is faster than a TikTok video. But please don’t assume this means she gets to sleep in. Robin actually gets up each morning before the sun does. She has important duties to look after even before she leaves for work.

Robin also manages CORE’s intake residence for our women in Branson, and one of her formal tasks happens early each morning. She leads the whole house in a morning devotional which sets a positive and spiritually-focused tone for their day ahead. She shared with us a rare glimpse into this event, which we think is well worth repeating. As she relates:

“Every morning, all the girls meet downstairs in the living room for a devotional. We sit around in a circle and read out of different books. They take turns doing that, and then we talk about it. After that we go around the room and hear what everybody has planned for the day. We finish by circling up.”

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