executive director

Serenity House Communities (SHC) is a Recovery Community Organization founded in 2015 by Tara Moreno-Wallen as a Substance Use Disorder Prevention & Recovery Support Service. SHC provides substance use and co-occurring disorders support for men & women in Lapeer & Genesee counties. Services are conducted utilizing a Community Resiliency model that meets participants in their current stage of change and empowers them towards a path of recovery. SHC provides a wide spectrum of services including advocacy and educational events, recovery coaching and recovery support groups to reduce stigma. The organization specializes in the delivery of holistic medicine approaches that range from Recovery Reiki to Yoga & Acupuncture.  

SHC is committed to promoting change and awareness; reducing stigma and shame by providing a better understanding of recovery. All services and projects conducted by SHC take place in a strategic planning framework that includes attention to assessing the needs of our participants;  assessing and building capacity for the benefit of our participants,  researching and applying evidence-based and culturally accepted healing approaches and using outcome and evaluation to drive services, as evidenced by the results of our data collection and analysis. 

SHC is aware of cultural diversity and provides cultural competency awareness that helps those who are affiliated with SHC to effectively operate within different cultural contexts with sensitivity toward members of  other ethnic or cultural groups.

This program aligns with Tier III Priorities by creating a Recovery  Community Organization (RCO) that will be a community coalition created  for the purposes of effecting change in targeted areas including: stigma reduction, increase community awareness about addiction and recovery,  establish a “home” for the recovering community, and to provide  community trainings and awareness events. This project is part of a  growing trend to establish RCO’s across the country. The formation of a Recovery Community Organization also supports peer development, within a Recovery Oriented System of Care framework.

Founder & Executive Director

Tara Moreno-Wallen, M.A., ADS, holds a Master’s Degree in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s in Telecommunications from Michigan State University. Tara worked as a news reporter for four years before becoming the founder and Executive Director of Serenity House in 2015. Tara’s inspiration came from her own recovery journey. She trained in recovery coaching through Genesee Health System in 2016 and is a member of the Genesee County Prevention Coalition. She is also the Secretary for The Michigan Association of Recovery Community Organization.  Her other networks include Faces & Voices for Recovery, along with national organizations geared at eradicating addiction stigma and unifying people in recovery. Moreno is also a Certified Reiki Master Teacher, a developer of Recovery Reiki, and is a Certified Acudetox Specialist. 

Tara is experienced in non-profit board development and recruitment, strategic planning, and budget crafting and implementation. Her role includes developing and leading, managing project strategies and work plans; managing and supervising staff and directing tasks on individual projects; providing strategic guidance of varying substance to staff on a wide variety of issues; directing stakeholder interactions, including facilitating meetings, calls, presentations, and conferences; contributing to planning and new outreach development, including drafting proposals for potential clients. Moreno collaborates with individuals and/or organizations such as law enforcement, health care and other community resources and systems in Genesee County. She has also helped other regions in the state of Michigan to establish working relationships and systems of referral and helped recovery coaches and recovery support services with engagement.