ABOVE: Healing Hearts Housing, owned by Sherry Frank, will have their first-ever fundraiser event Saturday, June 22, at the Martin County Fairgrounds. The event which will be held 4-8 p.m., will have music by Heart Song, barbecue meals and activities for the entire family. Attendees can learn more about Healing Hearts, how it operates and its mission.

FAIRMONT — Things will be OK. You will get better. You must allow yourself time.

That’s a powerful message a sobriety housing program is trying to provoke to tenants and recovering addicts around Martin County. A couple from Sherburn are on the quest to give recovering alcoholic women the affirmation that they will recover.

The Healing Hearts Housing will be hosting its first-ever fundraiser and silent auction at the Martin County Fairgrounds on Saturday.

Healing Hearts Housing quarters, rehabilitates, and empowers vulnerable women of the Martin County community struggling and overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. Healing Heart’s program strives to offer comfortable housing, peer and professional support, arts and crafts, transportation, and a mission to help their targets recover.

Sherry Frank and her husband, Curt, are co-owners of Healing Hearts Housing organization. Frank herself had been working for the Martin County Star newspaper before they decided to create a rehabilitation program located in Sherburn.

“Alcoholism is a disease,” Frank said. “It doesn’t discriminate.”

According to research-based information on drinking and its impact from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), alcoholism can affect anyone. Millions of people nationwide fall victim to alcohol abuse, with several hundred thousand people passing away due to alcohol-related causes.

Frank shared that she too fell into the devastating clutches of overconsumption of alcohol use. Frank said much of her life was put into tatters due to the intoxication, and the lifestyle had jeopardized several affiliations with others where she had lived. After promising her twin sister to keep trying and push beyond the hurt, Frank vowed to finally quit.

Frank said she began to attend several sobriety programs, with an improved drive and desire to stop. Frank says she is now 11 years sober.

Frank said her husband was eager to start a rehabilitation program for women’s sobriety after his recover from post-COVID diagnosis.

“It was like, when you’re in a grocery store in the freezer aisle, and one of the lights turns on, and they keep turning on the more you walk around. Like a calling.” She said.

The couple drove around their hometown of Sherburn, inspecting and touring several houses that matched their qualifications for a rehabilitation home. They finally discovered a yellow house to buy. Frank said the house was vacant for more than two years and required a lot of repairs.

With the help of her, her husband, and a team of supportive donors, renovations were completed in 15 months.

Currently, Healing Hearts is housing four individuals recovering from their addictions, with another joining shortly.

“To see them come alive is amazing.” Frank said.

Saturday’s fundraiser will feature a hog roast barbecue, silent auctions, raffles, bounce houses and acoustics by Heart Song.

“Our past does not define us. If we can show one person there’s a way, it’s worth it,” Frank said.

Mail and donations toward the Healing Hearts organization can be sent to P.O. Box 58, Sherburn Minnesota 56171. For information on how to support Healing Heart’s mission, contact HealingHearts56171@gmail.com and discover the official Facebook page for more information.