For the past five years, Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village has been helping people overcome addictions through Celebrate Recovery, a free, Bible-based 12-step program. Now leaders at Calvary are reaching out to other local churches, encouraging them to implement the program to help their congregants.

From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sat., April 23, the church will host an informational event for pastors and others interested in obtaining information about Celebrate Recovery.

The program, set up similarly to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program, addresses a wide range of addictions, including alcohol, smoking and food.

"Pastors see people all the time who are troubled with these issues," said DeeDee MacDonald, Celebrate Recovery facilitator at Calvary. "We have a large population of people who are troubled with addictions."

Celebrate Recovery was established in 1991 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Since then more than 150,000 people have participated in the program from more than 2,500 churches, from rescue missions and from prisons. Calvary has hosted the program for the past five years. About 20 people come to the weekly Wednesday night meetings at the church, according to MacDonald.

"There’s a paradigm that’s difficult to smash in this affluent area, where it’s more important to look good than to actually be genuinely happy and healthy—emotionally, spiritually and physically," said MacDonald, who’s gone through the program herself and is marking 16 years of sobriety. "Nobody wants to show their cooties around here."

MacDonald believes people feel they can open up about their problems through Celebrate Recovery.

"People begin to feel more comfortable when they have a safe place to go and talk about it," MacDonald said.

The program is easy to implement with minimal effort and cost, added MacDonald. There’s a $125 kit to get the program started. Other than that, it’s just having a facilitator and a meeting location, he said. Calvary will have kits available for purchase at its April 23 informational event.

"Many people in our communities have lived with hurts, hang-ups and habits for years with no help to recover and no hope for the future," said Steven L. Day, shepherding and teaching pastor at Calvary, in a letter sent to local pastors encouraging them to learn about the program.

For more information call (818) 991-8040.