Mutual Ground and Breaking Free planning merger

Two pillars in the community are joining forces to enhance the services offered by each.

Mutual Ground and Breaking Free have signed paperwork to combine their entities and are planning a full merger by July of 2020.

Both Mutual Ground and Breaking Free have served the Aurora community for more than 40 years.

Mutual Ground, founded in 1975, provides education, awareness and life-changing services that empower individuals, families and communities to end the cycles of domestic and sexual violence.

Breaking Free, founded in 1977, helps build strong family foundations and rebuild the lives of those impacted by substance use.

Together they will be able to provide exceptional service to members of the community who are experiencing a wide range of issues that often overlap.

Research reveals complex intersections between substance use issues and domestic violence, sexual assault/abuse, historical trauma, structural violence, and other forms of interpersonal trauma.

Mutual Ground and Breaking Free are uniting in an effort to develop coordinated, collaborative, or integrated treatments that are gender-inclusive, trauma informed, culturally attuned, and specifically designed to address the needs of victims of domestic and sexual violence, and those facing substance use issues.

Teddi Krochman, retiring executive director of Breaking Free, said, "We share a commitment to delivering services that build on each person's strengths. Through counseling, education and ongoing supportive services, we strive to create a community in which individuals and families thrive and live to their full potential."

"By joining forces with Breaking Free, Mutual Ground will be better able to meet the increasingly complex needs of individuals and families," said Michelle Meyer, executive director of Mutual Ground. "Both agencies have a strong history of collaboration with schools, law enforcement agencies, local coalitions and other human service organizations, providing a vital service to the community and helping thousands of people annually. This merger strengthens our collective ability to help people heal when they are facing overwhelming challenges."

To learn more about the services of Mutual Ground and Breaking Free, visit mutualground.org and breakingfreeinc.org.