Norm Cardilli didn't have to think twice when asked to help the Wellspring Home, which helps adult victims of sexual assault get their lives back on track in a house just outside of Peachtree City.

Cardilli, who owns Golden Glove Cleaning Services, jumped at the chance to help by cleaning the carpet at the facility, which houses eight women in a rigorous residential program to get their lives back on track.

Many of the women at the Wellspring home have had battles with drugs or alcohol; they also have destructive relationships. The six-month Wellspring program, which is rigidly structured, is their second chance.

And to that extent, Cardilli identifies with the women Wellspring helps. He too got a second chance, after moving to Atlanta and then being laid off from two jobs. A friend, whom he had loaned money years before, helped Cardilli start his own business.

The woman at Wellspring are busy re-starting their lives too. With group and individual counseling and very structured days, they relearn how to build good relationships, said Mary Frances Bowley, executive director of the association. They have to give up all their old relationships, but family is allowed to visit on Sundays, Bowley said.

"We want them to build a safe and healthy community before they leave us," Bowley said.

Participants receive instruction from a life coach, take character development classes and participate in family counseling. They also participate in career training and work out at a local gym. They have fun together, playing games and going out on the town, as attested to by photos on the wall showing smiling faces; it would almost seem as the women share a sorority type of atmosphere.

So far, the program has a success rate of 84 percent, Bowley said.

One recent graduate was reunited with her two children. Another recently got married and this month found out she was expecting. Although the cost is steep, at $15,000 per year to help each woman, it is supported in part by the Wellspring "upscale resale" store next to the Publix on Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City.

The community has been tremendously supportive of the Wellspring initiative, Bowley said. When the home first opened its doors, it went from being vacant with barren white walls to fully decorated and furnished in less than a month, all with no money spent by the ministry because of donations from the community, Bowley said. Expansion of the program is underway with another home in Gwinnett County, as there are about two calls a day and a waiting list of women waiting to participate in the program, Bowley said.

For more information, visit www.wellspringliving.org.

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