Jan Hafer holds the certificate acknowledging her designation as GRaCE Community Coach of the Year, which she was presented with on Feb. 26. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Feb. 26, Shepherdstown resident Jan Hafer was presented with the West Virginia Community Coach of the Year award from GRaCE (Greater Recovery and Community Empowerment) in Shepherdstown.

The award certificate was awarded in conjunction with the state’s Recovery Day, which was on Feb. 28. Since Hafer couldn’t make it to the event in Charleston, GRaCE Executive Director Marti Steiner presented it beforehand.

“Jan is an exceptional volunteer as a Recovery/Life Coach in the Eastern Panhandle,” Steiner said. “She is quick to volunteer, is a leader in our organization and community and embodies what GRaCE coaches do: we actively listen and ask motivational questions, we empower the person being coached to discern and discover resources they may want, we believe that they can be successful in their path to change and we are advocates with them and the community.

“Jan is an excellent coach, who empowers people who are trying to improve themselves. She walks with them as they discover the path and resources that works for them,” Steiner said. “On behalf of GRaCE, we congratulate Jan Hafer, ‘GRaCE Toto Community Coach of the Year 2022!”

According to Hafer, the reference in the award’s name to Toto, the dog in “The Wizard of Oz,” is because GRaCE coaches are trained to faithfully walk alongside their coachees, just as Toto did.

“It offers a different approach to working with someone who wants to be in recovery. So you’re a good friend, you’re a good listener, you help them to set goals for themselves. They really are in control of all of that,” Hafer said. “You can make suggestions, but you never say, ‘Well, you should do this!’ It’s not directive at all, like teaching or correction. It’s just listening and finding out what’s important to that person and the challenges they face. It’s helping them to break down their challenges into steps, to break down those obstacles.”

Hafer was also awarded with certificates acknowledging the vast number of volunteer hours she has donated over the past year, including the “I Believe in We” Award for more than 160 hours of volunteerism. According to Hafer, her dedication to supporting those who are trying to break free from their addictions to alcohol and drugs is due to having personally seen multiple members of her family fight the same battle as her coachees.

“People struggle with recovery everywhere, and they do right here in Shepherdstown and they do in Jefferson County and they do in the Eastern Panhandle,” Hafer said. “We are not exempt from addiction. And it can happen to any family. It’s not limited to one ethnic group, it’s not limited to one class. It is an epidemic in the U.S.

“In West Virginia, we have the highest overdose death rate in the nation,” Hafer said, mentioning the fight to overcome addiction has been even harder for people since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. “Initially, everything was shut down, so there were no more Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and groups like that. The isolation really increased the number of overdose deaths.”

Because of the isolation, Hafer has personally been paired with coachees across the state, who she coaches over the phone. As the pandemic comes to an end, she looks forward to the 501©(3) nonprofit organization returning to matching coaches up with those in their area, so coaches can more easily build up a rapport with their coachees through in-person meetings.

GRaCE was started in West Virginia by former state senator John Unger and his wife, Marti Steiner. Over 4,000 recovery coaches have been trained by GRaCE, throughout the state. For more information about GRaCE, visit www.strengthingrace.com.