The ASK Classroom is a relationship-based Program of recovery which provides Participants with life skills and the opportunity to live healthy lives. It also provides the foundation for their reintegration into the Calgary community at large. The ASK Classroom is a six to twelve month recovery program that teaches Participants lifeskills needed to make healthy choices. Some of the skills focused on in classes include how to budget, how to search for and keep employment, positive parenting, how to maintain positive relationships, how to use leisure time creatively, and how to develop positive lifestyle habits through classes on women's health, arts and crafts.
"ASK" is an acronym for "Ask, Seek, Knock" which conveys the idea that healing comes and self esteem is built when people take the initiative to change their lives. The "Advanced Program" is offered to Participants needing a different level of support: young women who have progressed beyond the regular ASK classroom but still need regular support, as well as those whose physical or mental health requires a modified version of the classroom.
To graduate from the ASK classroom, Participants are able to show strength in punctuality, attendance, strength in recovery, constructive problem-solving, and budgeting.
I came to Servants Anonymous in the summer of 2002. I had been clean, sober and out of the sex trade for 18 months... In spite of all the good things happening in my life, I was struggling with wanting to go back to the sex trade... I spent the first month (in ASK) fighting and arguing about everything we did, from sewing to movies, I couldn't understand the relevance to life. I was so naive, so tainted, I had spent the majority of my time there comparing SAS to addiction treatment centers and was really confused because they are really not one and the same... "What am I supposed to do wit this out in the real world?" I asked
Towards the end of my summer in the classroom it hit me... The ASK classroom is unlike any other. It teaches women about dignity, integrity, love, community, and then shows them how to implement the teachings in their life. The ASK classroom and SAS is about lifestyle rehabilitation, which is what I really needed most. How do I integrate into society? How do I manage my financial matters so I don't see prostitution as a choice? How do I heal from my past so I can live a brighter today?
- TK
