DES MOINES, Iowa — The Beacon, which provides recovery and homing services for metro women, is preparing for their annual Cake Gala.

The Beacon is a non-profit that provides services for adult women in central Iowa. Women partaking in The Beacon program often face trauma and substance abuse or become involved in criminal activities. The program offers women addiction recovery and therapy services, job training and more to help them lead productive lives.

In 2024, The Beacon underwent an expansion and opened the Beacon Village. A converted motel which now houses 32 women in apartment units. It offers women in the program an opportunity to regain autonomy while continuing recovery.

Despite the recent renovation, The Beacon still has hundreds of women on a waitlist, and as the cold months approach, they are working on raising funds to secure additional housing, resources, and supplies for women in need.

One of these upcoming events is The Beacon’s signature fundraiser, The Cake Gala. Every woman who partakes in the Beacon program is baked a cake for their birthday. Amy Landrigan, the Executive Director of “The Beacon,” says this is often a meaningful moment in recovery.

“Often they come with nothing but a little bag of things they have. One of the next questions is what is your favorite cake? That’s a hard question for them to answer, and that’s usually because so many of these women have not felt safe and they haven’t had a safe home or a place to celebrate themselves. The idea of them getting a birthday cake, sometimes they can’t even fathom that, we get a lot of answers of, well, at prison they served us this and we go, no, don’t think about it. What do you want to feel special on your birthday?”

This year the Cake Gala is being held November 7 at Prairie Meadows from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Learn more about The Beacon’s mission and their upcoming fundraisers on their website.