Building Hope: Peg Wright's Lifelong Commitment to Women's Wellness and Maternal Health

This week Ivy Slater, host of Her Success Story, chats with her guest, Peg Wright. Peg Wright's inspiring journey from the corporate world to launching a nonprofit, the evolution of CGE's trauma-informed approach to supporting homeless pregnant women and adolescents struggling with addiction, and how building a dedicated team has allowed the organization to serve over 600 people each year.  In this episode, we discuss: How Peg Wright founded the Center for Great Expectations in 1998 to serve homeless pregnant women and adolescents battling cycles of homelessness, abuse, and addiction, building the organization from the ground up with mentorship and collaboration. What Peg has learned about treating trauma and substance use simultaneously, integrating expert research and evolving best practices into long-term residential and outpatient programs tailored for women's unique needs. When and why Peg expanded services to include supportive housing and holistic care addressing social determinants of health, recognizing that stable housing, infant mental health, and comprehensive support are critical for sustained recovery. Why Peg emphasizes listening and presence as key support for individuals in crisis, encouraging community members to be informed and compassionate allies to those facing hardship. How Peg encourages nonprofit newcomers to follow their passion and start where they are, underscoring that even small contributions, volunteer efforts, or advocacy can create ripple effects in addressing systemic challenges.   Peg Wright has served as President and CEO of The Center for Great Expectations since 1998, when she founded The Center to assist homeless, pregnant women and adolescents in "breaking the cycle" of homelessness, abuse and addiction. The program began in a donated house in Somerville, serving twelve women per year. Under Peg's leadership, CGE now provides an uncompromised continuum of care across prevention and treatment of substance use and mental health disorders, for individuals who have experienced trauma, with relationally-based programs including Residential Treatment Centers for women and adolescents and their children; Katy's Place, an on-site child development center; the Roots to Recovery outpatient center in New Brunswick; 28 units of Permanent Supportive Housing; and START, a free one-of-a-kind in-home and telehealth program for pregnant or parenting clients and their infants. The Institute of CGE trains and consults clients and partners in our client-centered, evidence-based approaches. Peg leads a team of 115 full- and part-time employees, countless volunteers, and a dedicated Board of Trustees. Her commitment to providing the most impactful programming has supported an innovative clinical approach, resulting in programs that address underlying traumas and focus on building self-esteem, life skills and the critical relationship between mother and child. Informed by CGE's foundational Trauma C.A.R.E.© model and evidence-based approaches, The Center provides client-centered treatment for the best possible outcomes for both parent and child, including early relational health, to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma, substance use and homelessness. During her first career in sales and sales management of diagnostic imaging equipment, Peg developed the dynamic skills she uses today to partner with the public, private, and academic sectors to bring the highest level of care to the clients of The Center. She is passionate in collaborating with dedicated behavioral health clinicians, specializing in trauma-informed care and early relational health, to advance the individualized, compassionate mental health and substance use treatment CGE provides to marginalized women and men from all counties of New Jersey. On September 23, 2021, Peg received Somerset County Business Partnership's 70th Citizen of the Year Award. In 2018, Peg was recognized for her service to the community, receiving the New Jersey State Governor's Award for Public Service, by the State of New Jersey, the Jefferson Awards Foundation. She was also named Citizen of the Year by the New Jersey Psychology Association, an award given to a non-psychologist who has made significant contributions to the ideals of mental health or social welfare. That same year, Wright was named in the "Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Intrapraneurs" by New Jersey monthly magazine, in the categories of Innovation, Community Involvement, and Advocacy for Women. In 2015, Peg was selected as an NJBIZ "Top 50 Women in Business," an affirmation of her outstanding contribution in the nonprofit sector. and was honored to be named a "New Jersey Hero," by the NJ Heroes Foundation. Governor Chris and First Lady Mary Pat Christie and leaders of the Foundation visited The Center for Great Expectations to tour the facilities, meet clients and staff, and deliver Peg's award, along with a foundation grant. In 2025, Peg received a Russ Berrie, Making a Difference Award, honoring NJ changemakers. Peg is asked to share her expertise in the field of behavioral health: She is an affiliate member of Dr. Denise Hien's multidisciplinary team of external research collaborators and addiction education instructors at Rutgers University's Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies (CAS), as well as a founding community advisory board member of CAS's new Wellness in Recovery (WinR) Addiction Advocacy Research Program, directed by Dr. Margaret Swarbrick and co-directed by Dr. Hien. Peg is also a founding member of the Addiction and Behavioral Health Alliance, launched in 2018, by Dr. Bob Lynn. Year-round Peg is invited to showcase the work of CGE and share her experience with friends and colleagues throughout New Jersey. Most recently, in January 2022, Peg convened with 60 participants from around the world to share the work of The Institute of CGE at the virtual learning event "Models of Community-Centered Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs," organized by The Community Health Acceleration Partnership (CHAP). To mark International Women's Day, Peg was asked to keynote a special meeting of The College Woman's Club of Westfield, founded in 1917 "to further the higher education of women and serve the general interests of the community" in the awarding of scholarships.