“Words can’t really express how recovery has affected me. The “before and after” of my life is night and day – I call this my Bonus Life, because I would have died with how I had lived before recovery. It has taught me how to be survive being HUMAN, and has connected me to a community of people exactly like me, but also has connected me back to my family and loved ones, and truly replaced severe hopelessness with endless gratitude.”

“Recovery has given me a life I don’t have to use drugs to deal with.”

“Recovery gave me a life with all the parts that make a life possible: it gave me the ability to have a favorite color, to walk without craning my head toward the cement, and to accumulate memories from one night to the next. Years away from this era, having dedicated countless hours to my addiction and my mental health, my life is unrecognizable. The deeply injured person who decided sobriety might be worth it could never have imagined the ease and peace with which I am able to move through my life today.”

“Recovery has given me a chance to try to make my city a better place. During my addiction, I wasted a lot of time. Now, I can hopefully leave a legacy as someone who turned his life around and tried to have an impact on other people.”