The New Life Mission Inn has a new leader at the helm

The New Life Mission Inn has a new leader at the helm.
Sharon Brookes took over as Director at the New Life Mission Inn in April and it has always been a passion of hers to help those with addiction.
“My passion comes from a life-long battle of dealing with addiction in my own family,” Brookes said. “It’s tough to deal with sometimes and when I was younger I wish that I would have known there were support groups for the families.
In her short tenure as the director, Brookes as seen the need for places such as the New Life Mission Inn.
“Whether its people coming in or their families crying because they don’t know where to turn or what to do,” she said. “The passion that I have has really started to kick in and it has been great so far.”
The New Life Mission Inn is a place for support for recovering addicts. Founded in 2008, the mission is to promote and sustain spiritual growth in individuals experiencing substance use and mental health issues by providing structured recovery and mental health services in a stable environment with support and accountability.
The center has classes and groups, for those affected as well as therapy through Perry County Memorial Hospital. The center will also offer meals for those in need from 11 a.m.-noon during the week.

Brookes hopes to expand those groups to include more people and kinds of help.
“I’ve talked to a couple of people that have come in and asked them what kinds of groups would benefit them,” she said. “The one thing that stuck out to me was help for single parents. For single parents, the person that is the addict is in jail at some point. I also want to get the awareness out there about the family of the addict. For families, it’s a daily heartbreak and sometimes when they are in jail, you’re thankful because you know they are safe for the night. The stress that comes from families because they love those who suffer from addiction is something that not most think about.”
Brookes feels like a place such as the New Life Mission Inn serve a great purpose for Perryville and the local area.
“A lot of people don’t know that we are here,” she said. “Not at this exact location, but it has existed for about 15 years. I just want people to know that we are here and can offer help to those in need.”
Brookes is excited to put her stamp on the center.
“I want to make it bigger and better,” she said.
New Life Mission Inn is located at 114 West South Street in Perryville.