DOWAGIAC — Those facing the prospect of divorce will soon be able to find a community of support in Dowagiac.

A team, including Borgess Lee Chaplin Carolyn Strzyzykowski, will be leading a 13-week Divorce Care program starting on Sept. 9. The group will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sundays at Holy Maternity of Mary Catholic Church in the rose pavilion, 210 N. Front St., Dowagiac. The cost of the program is $20.

In the program’s third year, Strzyzykowski said she would like to see the group grow and reach more people, as in the two previous years, the program had low participation.

The Divorce Care Program is a faith based divorce support group. The program is designed to teach participants tools to help manage divorce and separation and covers topics such as loneliness, financial survival, childcare, forgiveness, sexuality and more. Each session runs in three parts, with a video seminar, a group discussion and a personal workbook session. The program is designed that each session stands alone. Participants can enter the program at any time.

“We want to reach as many people as we can, because we know this can really help people,” Strzyzykowski said. “This program is like an emergency room. … Divorce is a problem that people face in society, and we want to help heal those people.”

Strzyzykowski is herself divorced and has been remarried for 23 years. She said she wishes that she had a program like Divorce Care to help her through her divorce all those years ago. Though she did take part in a support group at her church, she said that Divorce Care offers much more consistent and focused support than she was able to receive at the time.

“These materials weren’t available at that time,” she said. “It means a lot to me to connect with other people who are going through the same things. I think it is where the heart in me to do this comes from.”

Though Divorce Care is a faith based program, Strzyzykowski said it can appeal to anyone going through divorce or separation, regardless of their faith association.

“I know people who have done this program who were not interested [in the faith] aspect,” she said. “But there is enough else going on that they still got a valuable experience out of it.”

Because the Divorce Care group wants to reach as many people as possible, Strzyzykowski said she wants to make sure that everyone knows they will be welcomed with open arms to the program. Additionally, the program and the church is willing to work with people who want to take part, but cannot afford the $20 charge to get them a workbook, which is what the fee covers.

“I think the program is very beneficial to people,” Strzyzykowski said. “This is a program that doesn’t leave holes. It addresses so much. … We want to provide support to people going through [divorce]. This is an [chance] for people to really have an opportunity for healing.”