This year, Company of Grace is taking over a working glass-blowing studio in Chicago’s West Loop, a place where fire shapes something beautiful. It’s a fitting home for ISP’s annual gathering, because so much of our work begins with a spark, when people sit together honestly, when someone in recovery realizes they’re not alone, when a team member walks into a shelter for the hundredth time and still feels called. That quiet, steady flame is what Company of Grace celebrates.

Doors open at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 23 at Ignite Glass Studios, with food, drinks, and a live glass-blowing demonstration. Guests mingle, watch molten glass take shape, visit with friends old and new. By the time the program begins, the room already feels like it belongs to everyone in it.

The Conversation

This year’s fireside conversation brings together multiple perspectives on a question that doesn’t get asked enough: what does recovery need beyond a bed and a treatment plan? What happens when we also tend to the spirit?

Christine Haley, the Chief Homelessness Officer for the State of Illinois and a long-time Ignatian practitioner, brings a front-line perspective on how responses to homelessness are evolving in Chicago and across the country. Fr. Tim McCabe, president and CEO of the Pope Francis Center in Detroit, has spent four decades in advocacy and led the development of a $40 million housing campus for people experiencing chronic homelessness. And two ISP Ambassadors of Hope, alumni leaders who now facilitate retreats and spiritual reflection circles in recovery settings across the country, join the conversation, bringing the credibility of lived experience and the perspective of people doing this work throughout the year.

Spiritual Recovery in Practice

That conversation grows out of something real. Across more than 20 cities, ISP’s trained volunteers lead spiritual retreats and ongoing reflection circles for people rebuilding their lives after homelessness and addiction. Last year, more than 6,500 participants experienced ISP’s programs. Over 1,200 alumni-led reflection circles took place across the country. And over 95% of participants reported an improved sense of self-worth, belonging, and hope.

All of it happens at $250 per participant per retreat. The evening will include a moment to support ISP’s next year of retreats and reflection circles.

We’d Love to See You There

In person: Tickets are $125. Business casual. Ignite Glass Studios, 401 N. Armour St., Chicago.

From anywhere: A free national livestream is available. Register by April 4 and we’ll send you a party pack, including everything you need to be part of the evening from wherever you are.

Register at ispretreats.org/cog