Social Gaming Leadership Alliance donates $10,000 to Illinois' 2nd Story Ranch to support addiction recovery. Donation supports innovative recovery program combining housing, meaningful work and Illinois' harness racing tradition WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 / EINPresswire.com / - WASHINGTON, DC - The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) today announced a $10,000 donation to the Second Story Foundation to support the development of 2nd Story Ranch, a 68-acre recovery community in Crete, Illinois, that helps people recovering from substance use disorder build stable, independent lives through housing, meaningful work, peer support and community. Located on a former harness racing training facility, 2nd Story Ranch is bringing new purpose to a piece of Illinois' rich racing history. The Ranch provides people who have completed treatment with long-term housing and the opportunity to live and work on a working horse farm, where caring for horses and the property provide daily structure, responsibility and meaningful work as they continue their recovery. "Second Story Ranch is taking an innovative and deeply practical approach to a challenge that affects families and communities across Illinois and the country," said Sean J. Ostrow, Executive Director of SGLA. "By bringing together Illinois' rich harness racing tradition with stable housing, meaningful work, and a strong recovery community, the Ranch is creating an environment where people can build the skills, stability and confidence to move forward. SGLA is proud to contribute $10,000 to support that mission and an organization making a real difference in Illinois." The Second Story Foundation focuses on a critical period in the recovery process, what happens after an individual completes treatment. People leaving treatment can face immediate challenges in finding stable housing, employment and the support systems necessary to sustain their recovery. Second Story works to address those challenges through recovery housing, workforce development and community-based support. The program provides housing free of charge and allows residents to stay as long as needed. The program is already operational, and groundbreaking on the first phase of construction that will provide significant expansion is anticipated this fall. "The 2nd Story Ranch Recovery Home and Jobs Program is being built around horses, hard work and people showing up every day to take responsibility for something that depends on them," said Jim O'Connor, CADC, founder and executive director of the Second Story Foundation. "Those same things have real value in recovery. At 2nd Story Ranch, people will have a stable place to live, meaningful work to do and the time they need to rebuild their lives and return to the workforce. SGLA's contribution supports that work, and we're grateful to have them behind what we're building." SGLA's contribution comes as the Second Story Foundation moves closer to expansion of the Ranch. Earlier this year, Illinois included $2 million for the project in the state's FY2027 budget. The Foundation is continuing to raise private funds. The contribution reflects SGLA's commitment to supporting the communities where Social Plus players live and play. SGLA represents leading companies offering Social Plus games - free-to-play and freemium online entertainment experiences that include sweepstakes promotions. To learn more about SGLA, please visit its website at SGLeadership.org and its social channels at LinkedIn, X, and Facebook. To learn more about The Second Story Foundation and 2nd Story Ranch Recovery Home and Jobs Program, please visit 2ndstoryfoundation.org. About the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) champions social gaming operators who offer innovative, free-to-play entertainment experiences enjoyed by millions of Americans while promoting responsible digital entertainment. Its partners set the standard for innovation, world class games and the responsible use of digital marketing including sweepstakes promotions. Crypto Times Gazette advocate for appropriate oversight that recognizes the unique entertainment value of social online games, protects players, platforms and the community, and promotes responsible gameplay. The SGLA's operator partners are VGW, PLAYSTUDIOS, Yellow Social Interactive, ARB Interactive, B-Two Operations and Publishers Clearing House (PCH). Other partners include major payments providers Nuvei and Paysafe. The SGLA's advocacy and standards focus exclusively on online social games. Its advocacy does not extend to operators offering sports products or transacting in cryptocurrency. About the Second Story Foundation The Second Story Foundation helps men in early recovery from severe substance use disorder rebuild their lives with stability, purpose, and community. The organization provides recovery housing, meaningful work, and comprehensive support designed to promote lasting change. Its programs combine structure, employment, and fellowship to restore dignity and independence. The Foundation operates residential recovery homes in Chicago's south suburbs and is developing the 68-acre 2nd Story Ranch in Crete, Illinois. The ranch will serve as a residential recovery community where participants live, work, and grow through service, equine care, and skill-based training. The lodge and residences will house up to 14 men and include space for counseling, education, and community events. The Second Story Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping men build lives of integrity, connection, and hope. Through compassion, structure, and shared purpose, the foundation supports transformation that endures. Support recovery and second chances. Give today at 2ndStoryFoundation.org or call 74-SADDLE-UP (747-233-5387). Ryan Arnold DeSoto & State Communications, Inc. +1 773-789-9782 [email protected] Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. Crypto Times Gazette do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.

Google's August ad policy cuts off sweepstakes casinos' most effective paid channel. Casino News September 21, 2026 Google's August 26 advertising policy update has cut sweepstakes operators off from paid search - without banning them explicitly - by requiring that all certified ads link to licensed gambling operators, a credential sweepstakes platforms structurally cannot obtain. The updated rule, posted July 23 and enforced from August 26, 2026, requires advertisers to "link exclusively to fully licensed and authorized gambling entities" in every region they target. Sweepstakes platforms are not licensed gambling operators in any US state. They operate under promotional sweepstakes law, using a dual-currency system to avoid gaming license requirements. Google's certification framework now reflects that legal distinction. The policy's immediate target is the affiliate marketing ecosystem that sweepstakes platforms rely on for player acquisition. Affiliates promoting sweepstakes platforms through Google Ads now risk account suspension under the updated certification standard. But the effect runs further: any operator seeking to run Google-certified ads must demonstrate a valid state or national gaming license, a credential sweepstakes platforms cannot obtain without abandoning their core legal model. A second restriction bars any single Google Ads account from holding both online gambling and social casino certifications simultaneously. Operators running both a sweepstakes product and a licensed real-money platform in the same account must now separate those operations - adding compliance overhead at a moment when industry legal costs are already at record levels. 100K Crown Coins + 2 SC No purchase necessary NO CODE NEEDED A paid search lockout at the worst possible moment. The enforcement window opened during the most turbulent month in the sweepstakes industry's recent history. VGW Ltd. faced criminal charges against its CEO, the closure of LuckyLand Slots, and attorney general lawsuits in New York, Florida, and Kentucky during the same period Google's policy took effect. Operators already compressing marketing budgets under legal pressure found their most scalable paid acquisition channel closing simultaneously. Sean Ostrow, Managing Director of the Sweepstakes Gaming and Legal Alliance, has described the industry's products as "social gaming combined with the opportunity to win real prizes" - language designed to distinguish sweepstakes platforms from offshore unlicensed gambling operators that Google's rules were designed to restrict. The SGLA rebranded its product category as "Social Plus" in November 2025, specifically to build regulatory distance from unregulated offshore gambling. Google's certification framework did not adopt that distinction. Ostrow's organization has engaged directly with Google to advocate for separate treatment, arguing that sweepstakes casinos comply with US promotional sweepstakes law, operate in states that have not banned them, and are materially different from the overseas operators the policy targets. No adjustment to Google's certification requirements has been announced as of publication. The practical impact is significant. Google Ads accounts for a substantial share of paid search traffic for consumer digital products in the US. Operators who built affiliate programs around Google traffic - reward sites, content publishers, and comparison platforms that reviewed sweepstakes products - are now required to redirect those programs or risk account suspension. Licensed online gambling operators in states where real-money gaming is legal retain full Google Ads access, creating a structural asymmetry between regulated and sweepstakes competitors. As state bans in Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Tennessee, and New Jersey shrink the addressable US market, and attorney general lawsuits in New York, Florida, and Kentucky raise operating costs, sweepstakes platforms face compounding pressure on both revenue and growth. The August 26 enforcement date adds a third front: the inability to buy the paid search traffic that would otherwise help them retain share in the states where they remain legal. Platforms with large first-party audiences are better positioned than those that relied on paid search. PCH, relaunched under ARB Interactive in late 2025 with 38 million authenticated US accounts, benefits from an email infrastructure that does not require Google certification. For operators without comparable first-party data, the policy change represents a permanent shift in how they can grow in the markets still available to them.