At just 13, April began drinking and using drugs, paving the way for a long and difficult battle with addiction. With six DWIs and a few run-ins with the law, April’s substance use disorder spiraled deeper after her oldest son’s father tragically passed away in a four-wheeler accident in 2005. Overcome with grief and hoping…
Markel Joseph’s life began with boundless energy, laughter, and an infectious love for people and dancing. Growing up, he was known for his lively spirit, and people gravitated toward him because of his upbeat personality. But over time, that vibrant energy faded into darkness as addiction took hold. The change was gradual yet consuming. He…
Jenn West was a woman who built her life around her love for animals, working as an ER and surgery veterinary technician. But behind her professional facade, her personal life was crumbling. “It was horrible,” she recalls, reflecting on the years lost to addiction. Heroin, crack cocaine, and whatever else she could find had taken…
Jason was 18 when he first experimented with cocaine and pain pills, marking the beginning of a 3-year spiral of heavy drinking and substance use, which eventually resulted in a car wreck while driving the wrong way down a highway, leading to his first arrest. Shortly after the accident, Jason met a woman who…
From the outside, Joy Reybein seemed to have it all together. She had a job as a paralegal, was married and had raised her children. But deep down, she was struggling to keep it all from unraveling. “It was a mess,” she says. “I started drinking heavily and suddenly decided I needed to move.…
Kendal Smith, 30, is a survivor, beating cancer as a young child and facing heart surgery as a teen. While his early life was rocky due to illness, when he looks back at his childhood in Dayton, Ohio, he smiles when he thinks about his mom. “My mom worked very hard every day,” shares…
Healing Transitions’ Recovery Outreach Department, incepted in 2018, made 8,308 outreach attempts in 2023. Recognizing the challenge of maintaining and tracking such a significant volume of calls and data, Recovery Outreach Specialist Trish Wuchte, who has been instrumental in enhancing the program, developed an innovative phone tree system. This initiative connects individuals in sustained recovery…
Ashley’s addiction-to-recovery journey was a quick spiral from a sheltered, middle-class childhood with her family to being homeless. “I had my first drink at 16, and I immediately fell in love with it,” she remembers. “I grew up in church. My life was very structured and protected. After I started drinking, I used drugs…
Timmy Fox’s remarkable journey from a participant in the Healing Transitions Long-Term Recovery Program to Silver Chipper #984 is a testament to the transformative impact that recovery has had on him. His unwavering commitment to serving others as a Recovery Engagement Specialist at Healing Transitions underscores this impact. In one of his college courses…
Daniel was raised in a loving, two-parent home and according to him, he had “everything anyone could ever want or desire.” When Daniel, 38, left home for North Carolina A&T State University, he was introduced to alcohol, marijuana and eventually, cocaine. What started out as recreational use amongst friends and colleagues slowly turned into an…