Vital Voyage
Author of the Month:
Tammy Adler Foeller
Author of the Month is a spotlight series honoring one standout contributor whose voice, expertise, and impact have made a significant difference in mental health education and recovery awareness. Each month, we feature one author’s most powerful articles, insights, and personal story.
Author of the Month Posts
A Conversation With Tammy
Favorite Quote
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
Mother Theresa
.jpeg)
Tammy Adler Foeller
Publishers Note
Tammy Adler Foeller knows firsthand the fear, heartbreak, and uncertainty families experience when someone they love is struggling with substance use disorder. When her daughter needed treatment, Tammy discovered there were few appropriate options close to their home in Columbus, Ohio, ultimately requiring her daughter to travel out of state for care.
Throughout her daughter’s journey, Tammy experienced what so many parents do: searching for answers, seeking the right help, and hoping there might be one thing that could finally make recovery possible. Rather than allowing those difficult experiences to end with her own family, Tammy turned them into a commitment to help other women and families.
That commitment led her to create OpenDoor Women’s Recovery Alliance, an extraordinary community-based approach to supporting women in recovery. For an entire year, a team of six to eight people surrounds one woman with support, meeting with her weekly and helping her work toward the goals she has identified for her life—all at no cost to her.
As Publisher of Vital Voyage Blog, I know of few organizations willing to invest this level of time, personal attention, and sustained community involvement in a single individual. OpenDoor does more than offer recovery support; it brings people together to walk alongside a woman as she rebuilds her life. Tammy has transformed one family’s painful journey into a powerful model of compassion, connection, and community—and that is a remarkable legacy.
BIO
Tammy Foeller is a founder and Executive Director of OpenDoor Women's Recovery Alliance, a Columbus-based nonprofit built on a simple but powerful truth: addiction thrives in isolation and healing happens in community.
Tammy's path to this work wasn't one she chose from the outside; it found her through her own family's journey with addiction. Walking alongside her daughter through the darkest and most uncertain seasons of addiction and recovery reshaped everything Tammy thought she knew about trauma, isolation, and the quiet, persistent power of showing up for someone. That experience planted the seed for OpenDoor, which today wraps women rebuilding their lives after treatment, incarceration, and exploitation in genuine relationships, practical support, and a community where they belong- not just a program they complete.
Tammy also enjoys writing, and her work explores the same terrain she's walked in real life: trauma, addiction, relationships, and the moments that quietly shape who we become. She writes from lived experience and from what she's witnessed alongside the women she serves, hoping to help readers see the person behind the struggle. and to remind us all how much it matters, simply, to show up for one another.
But ask Tammy what matters most, and she'll tell you it's family. She's a mom to Josh (Natalie) and Stephanie (Henry), a bonus mom to Amy (Eric) and Tracy (Mike), and a grandmother to nine — a role she clearly delights in. She and her husband have shared 25 joy-filled years of marriage, and together they mentor engaged couples through their church, helping lay the groundwork for marriages built to last. When she's not working, you'll find Tammy curled up with a good book, writing, planning her next trip, or simply soaking up time with the people she loves most.
Recovery does not happen alone. Hear from Tammy Adler Foeller about her “why” when co-founding OpenDoor.
Why This Series Matters
This series reflects Vital Voyage’s mission to tell recovery stories that matter.