2025 Annual Report
Lighting the Path
Building a national movement of spiritual recovery
The Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) believes that every person is loved by God and has a sacred story, and that walking together in Love lights the path to healing and home.
Our Mission
ISP invites people recovering from homelessness and addiction to encounter God's love, hope, and healing through spiritual companionship that transforms lives.
What We Do
Someone's recovery can collapse when isolation and hopelessness win. ISP creates safe communities that replace isolation with belonging, spaces where people are seen, heard, and loved as they are. Through overnight retreats and spiritual reflection circles, we provide "scaffolding for the soul," the steady support that helps housing, treatment, and sobriety stick.
A Letter from Our Executive Director
Dear Friends,
I write to you with a full heart of gratitude for all we have done—together—in the past year. I am acutely aware that the life-changing work of ISP happens only because of the incredible care and commitment from our volunteers, donors, partners, and friends. Thank you!
That collective care can become a turning point, opening possibilities for hope and belonging that many of our participants encounter for the first time at ISP. Lisa, an alumna from Detroit you'll meet below, recently described her recovery this way: "When I first encountered ISP, I felt relief and freedom. For the first time, I realized I mattered. I didn't need substances to feel connection."
That sense of safety—of being fully seen and heard—is the heartbeat of every ISP encounter, whether it happens on an overnight retreat or in a weekly spiritual reflection circle. Your partnership means that we've been able to offer spaces for healing and connection to a growing number of people year after year.
Since 2023, we have seen an incredible surge in the demand for our work, with the number of participants walking through our doors growing by nearly 40%. We often speak of ISP as providing 'scaffolding for the soul' because we know that external supports like housing and treatment need an internal foundation to build upon. By replacing hopelessness and isolation with a tangible experience of God's love, and the support of a community that truly sees and loves them, we help participants build spiritual resilience that allows their recovery to take root and endure.
We are profoundly grateful—while also looking toward an even broader horizon. As we launch our three-year strategic plan, we're investing in the scaffolding that ensures ISP is not just a network of cities, but a national leader in the spiritual recovery movement, one that draws on the power of Ignatian spirituality to restore and rebuild lives. You can read more about our vision and plans for the future below.
Thank you for walking with us, for investing in this vision, and for providing the spiritual home where thousands of people like Lisa can realize they matter—and go spread this good news to others!
With gratitude and hope,
Christine Curran
Executive Director
Voices of Healing
Ambassadors of Hope
For a long time, I was mad at God. My life was defined by addiction, trauma, and a constant, burning question: Why? But when I found ISP three years ago, everything shifted.
— Charlene
Ambassador of Hope, ISP Washington, D.C.
ISP is different from other programs I'd tried—it is more spiritual. It has helped me deal with my trauma better than just regular recovery, especially through the prayer we do.
— Lisa
Ambassador of Hope, ISP Detroit
I had been struggling with my addiction for over 30 years. My spirit was sick and needed to be healed... My Higher Power didn't save me for me—He saved me to help somebody else... That's my mission.
— Reggie
Ambassador of Hope, ISP Chicago
By the Numbers
95%
of participants report improved sense of self-worth, belonging and hope after their first ISP experience
The circle of hope is widening.
In 2025, ISP reached 1,193 more people than the year before—a 21.5% increase over 2024 and 37.5% increase over 2023.
Our Approach
Housing and treatment are essential, but they often aren't enough to sustain recovery alone. Public funding tends to the body and mind, but stops at the spirit. ISP fills this gap by offering spiritual companionship that helps other supports hold.
Healing happens in relationship
Our Theory of Change is symbolized by intertwining cords representing the love, companionship, and support essential to the journey of recovery—elements often overlooked in traditional approaches.
In the short term, participants leave with more hope, and a greater sense of self-worth and belonging. Over time, ISP alumni report sustained sobriety and renewed relationships. In the long term, this foundation leads to durable recovery milestones, including stable employment and housing.
One Movement, 20 Communities
From coast to coast, ISP communities are lighting the path to recovery through spiritual companionship.
The longer you stay in treatment, the better your chances of maintaining sobriety. I truly believe that the individuals who go on ISP retreats stay longer than the rest of the population. It digs deeper into their spiritual journey, and that becomes the foundation for everything else.
Kevin Gardere
CEO, Bridge House / Grace House, New Orleans
Financial Overview: Building Capacity
Following a surplus in 2024, we made a planned reinvestment in 2025 to build key capacity for initiatives in our strategic plan, including enhanced storytelling, alumni leadership and new program growth.
As planned, expenses ($1.17M) exceeded revenue ($1.09M) in 2025, and we enter 2026 stronger and on track for a return to balance by 2028.
For every $1 given, we leveraged an additional 44 cents in donated time from volunteers, turning a $1.25M budget into $1.8M worth of impact.
This chart combines our 2025 expenses with the estimated value of 15,945 team member hours ($554,709). Audited year-end financials available by request.
Maximizing Your Impact
Fundraising, communications, and administration provide training and support so local teams can focus on people, not paperwork, and ensure this work is safeguarded for the long haul.
Without this [network], I wouldn't be here—the network, the people, and the unconditional love they show you, even when they don't know you.
Michelle
Alumna & Team Leader, Cleveland
Donor Spotlight & Magis Partners
Al & Patti Gustafson
Investing in the Soul of Recovery
"What sets ISP apart is its unique blend of spirituality and recovery," shares Al Gustafson. "My family has been touched by addiction—my father found sobriety at seventy, and the spirituality of AA has always resonated with me. ISP's approach, rooted in Ignatian values, offers something I haven't seen elsewhere: a space for reflection, community, and transformation."
For Al and Patti, supporting this mission is more than charity; it is a strategic investment in a model that works. With a background in the nonprofit sector, Al knows that deep transformation requires organizational stability, which is why they prioritize intentional, multi-year commitments.
"We value strong leadership and a clear vision," Al explains. "Investing in good people matters to us. We make multi-year commitments because we know it's hard to run an organization without consistent revenue. We want our gift to provide the stability that allows ISP to focus on the mission."
This combination—personal conviction and strategic foresight—is what fuels the movement. By ensuring the "scaffolding" is strong, the Gustafsons are helping ISP build a lasting home for spiritual recovery.
Community Partners & Foundations
People in recovery need to eat and a place to live. But at the same time, a spirituality base is deeply what they need. It undergirds the health of our entire mission. It brings people back into their humanity. That spiritual listening time is essential—it creates a safety where the struggle melts away, allowing them to be truly seen and flourish.
Reverend Melissa Pohlman
Central Lutheran Church, ISP Community Partner
Building a Movement
At the end of 2025, we launched a 3-year strategic plan with an ambitious vision: to become a leading organization in the spiritual recovery movement, one that draws on the power of Ignatian spirituality to help restore and rebuild lives. The FY28 Strategic Plan has identified 4 pillars to get us there:
Scale Our Network
We are moving to a tiered membership model that meets local ISP communities where they are. This ensures we can support existing teams sustainably—aligning our network resources with local needs—and provides a dynamic pathway for new ISP cities.
Tell Our Story
ISP has an incredible story to share, one that is hope-filled and changing lives. We are investing in strategic communications and marketing in order to share ISP's impact more widely and attract new people to this transformative ministry.
Strengthen Our Volunteer Community
Our 600+ volunteers are the heartbeat of this mission. We are sustaining them with a stronger volunteer ecosystem, training, tools and a new peer-to-peer learning platform. All of this will help teams focus on what they do best: walk with people in recovery.
Invest in Our Alumni
Transformed people transform others. We are moving from simple participation to clear leadership pathways so lived experience guides our work, from our local teams to national strategy. This includes the Ambassadors of Hope program and a new Alumni Advisory Forum.
Kindling the Fire
A spark can ignite a journey, but it takes a community to keep the fire burning. Your partnership builds the spiritual foundation that allows thousands of men and women to move from isolation to belonging. Thank you for lighting the path home.
The goal is to keep a flicker alive... to keep that flame flickering so nobody is hopeless. That is the message of ISP.
Glenn
Ambassador of Hope, ISP Boston