Alicia endured a series of heartbreaking losses in 2015, losing both her mother and experiencing a miscarriage within the same year. The pain from these events led her to begin using drugs in 2016, and soon after, she fell into a deep depression. In 2020, following a traumatic breakup, Alicia’s struggles escalated, and she began…
Jay’s journey into recovery wasn’t so much a planned path as it was finding himself at the end of the road. He describes his years in active addiction as “wallowing in a mud puddle,” a period of life marked by pain and a loss of hope, where each day was a routine of finding ways…
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’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 began…
Jenn 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 over…
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 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. I…
Kendal, 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 Kendal.…
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…