5 Hoosiers raise $22,000 for Dove Recovery House through 12.5-mile swim around Key West
With the sun shining and thermometers reading 89 degrees, a group of Hoosiers swam 12 and a half miles June 18, to raise awareness and money for Dove Recovery House — a residential treatment facility for women recovering from addiction.
The team had raised $22,000 through a fundraising page by the time they finished the College of the Florida Keys’ “Swim Around Key West” race, placing third in their division for five-person relays.
The team was brought together by Tim Kelly, a doctor and the medical director of addiction treatment services for Community Health Network who refers some of his patients to Dove House.
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More than 30 years ago, Kelly saw a poster for the race while in Florida and thought it would be fun to participate in one day and decided to do it for a cause.
“Dove House is the best women’s program in the state,” Kelly said. “We think we exposed the Dove House to a lot of people who didn’t know about it,” as the team spread information about Dove House's mission and goal of raising $2.5 million for its expansion to its existing facility in Indianapolis.
The team captain was Jim Barber — who was stuck manning the support boat due to a broken clavicle — a former Indiana University swimmer and former Division I swim coach.
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His wife, Roberta Barber, stepped in for him in the race, a swimmer for United States Masters, a nonprofit, membership-operated group for adult swimmers.
There was also a father daughter pair: Rob and Grace Newton. The father is a two-time Ironman competitor, and the daughter, 17, has been swimming for 12 years. Lastly, Susie Shuck, a swimmer of many open water races across the US and Mexico, participated, along with Kelly.
The free recovery residence will increase its number of beds from 40 to 55, a much needed addition, as its waitlist is currently around 130 women, said Wendy Noe, the chief executive officer of Dove Recovery House.
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Kelly hopes to make the race a Hoosier tradition, gathering groups of people to swim every year to raise money for nonprofit organizations.
But, for now, his mind is on the Dove House.
“We need like ten times the Dove House,” Kelly said. “If you are waiting to see if we finished the race before you support us, we did.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana swimmers raise $22K for Dove Recovery House at Key West swim
