LiKen, Inc was founded in 2020 in memory of two men who exemplified empathy, love of family, and willingness to support those in need without judgment. Ken Levine and John Chaput's lives were both deeply affected by substance use disorders and both of their life stories included children whose lives were disrupted by alcoholism and addiction. We strive to inspire others to be “Like Ken (and John),” hence our name.

Christina Pendleton, the founder of LiKen, came to me with a simple request. What platform should she use for her DIY website and can I help with a little guidance on what services would be do it yourself website friendly? (Obviously, I was happy to help any way I can!… Her energy is infectious.)

She wanted me to guide her in building a basic website where she could share her passion to break the cycle of addiction through providing comfort items to children, especially pre-teens. Now, it’s worth also saying that Christina has been doing this work for 12 years - she just has found it’s time to ‘officially’ do it.

After some back and forth, and a realization that a little more help might be needed than just guidance, Christina and I started connecting weekly to seriously build the site together - 1 step at a time.

We first discussed the feeling we were looking to evoke (serious but not sad), the common clients (children/preteens/teens), and the likely website visitors (adults looking to help). Next, we dove into content and then imagery. And then a quick detour for an unplanned logo refresh.

After about 6 weeks we were ready to launch. Christina posted a link to the website with a heartfelt message:

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The response was swift, warm and well-received. Her friends, family and connections quickly liked, shared and commented: (This is only a small snapshot of the response.)

The mission of LiKen, Inc is to break the cycle of addiction by mitigating the material and emotional losses of adolescents who are displaced due to their parent(s)' struggles with substance use disorders. We do this by mobilizing and supplementing available community resources in real time and providing comfort items that encourage self-care and healthy coping strategies.

Would you like to help? Please check out the website - https://www.likenkids.org/