This is my story. I started using crack at the age of 21. When I started, I was curious and wanted to know how it felt. When it was introduced, my husband was using first. I had 2 children at the time. I started losing weight, then my addiction became worst. Then I had a third child and he was positive for cocaine and that when Children's Services stepped into my life. My mother took my kids for me because I wasn't ready to stop. I still was running the street. My husband left because his ad...   read more »

Fourteen years ago this past July, I finally decided to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, by the suggestion of a friend who was two years sober and my age at the time. My friend suggested that I go to a particular meeting. She said she would take me, but I decided I would go on my own. I have never looked back. Recovery is not linear. The steps have allowed me to tolerate the peaks and valleys, embrace the moment and take a look at my actions. Not only did I put down the drink, but I c...   read more »

I woke up in a state of complete confusion, bound to a hospital bed and hooked up to lots of machines. There were tubes in me and wires attached to me. I didn’t remember how or why I was there. I thought I had been abducted! I was out of my mind and fought to break free of my restraints. A couple of times I did. I had to be sedated over and over again. Weeks later the fog had begun to lift and I was re-learning how to walk. I also learned that I had spent 8 days on a ventilator having suffe...   read more »

Clayton is a 68 year-old male who has been in recovery for 15 years. Clayton stated the turning point at which he chose to get clean was when he realized he was hurting his entire family, his marriage was failing, and he no longer enjoyed getting high. Clayton credits the Salvation Army and their substance abuse treatment services as the helping hand he needed in overcoming all of the challenges he faced. Clayton stated it was at his first AA meeting he realized that anyone can fall victim t...   read more »

My turning point was when I violated probation for the third time. They gave me a last chance at a treatment center. I also had lost my job due to using and did not have my licence for a couple years. My girlfriend was giving me one last chance. I didn't want to lose everyone I loved. My life started turning around when I got into St.Christopher's Inn. I decided that I had caused enough damage to my life. That's when I decided to put my all into recovery. That's when I learned so much about ...   read more »

My story is a simple one, but I am almost fully recovered at this point in my life and feel that sharing it will complete my recovery. I started using drugs, namely oxycodone, when I was 17 years old. Why? I couldn't tell you. The only plausible reason I have come up with to this day is boredom. I was bored with my life and drugs were there to make dull times exciting. And then I got carried away and a recreational habit became a daily habit, that became a dependence, and that became an addictio...   read more »

In recovery, I have choices to make. I must say, how I feel in a humble. I'm on a journey to accept my past, present and future. Taking it one day at a time - slowly a pattern of behavior concerning people, places and things. It's a struggle. Along the journey, my recovery has been a new life, happy, sad sometimes, but I a not using. Shame, low self-esteem --- I threw those words and actions away. Today I live a new life in recovery, one that I am enjoying. I am learning about myself and hav...   read more »

First time I picked up a substance was shortly after I turned 9, I was living in Flint, MI, with my dad and "new" stepmother. It all began with marijuana and liquor ... Then I experienced mushrooms later the same year. I quickly enjoyed using and wanted nothing more in the world. Around 14, I began my path with crack/cocaine along with pills and Crystal Meth. I began selling to support my habit and quickly found out what it was all about. I overdosed when I was 15 on a bunch of pills that t...   read more »

I became infected with HIV by a girl I met in a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting. At the the time, I blamed Narcotics Anonymous for my infection. But, I had to realize that I was not working NA or recovery the right way. I was using the rooms to pick up girls and after the meetings, I would get high. I was not listening to the message that recovery had to offer because I was not ready yet. I was then introduced to Harm Reduction by way of Harlem United. I continued to use drugs, but attempte...   read more »

I am a greatful recovery addict. This is my story. I was living on the street smoking all the crack I could get my hands on and then some. I did some ptetty shameful things that still hurt my heart. I got into recovery and was clean for 5 years and then I relapsed. Three years ago, I became afraid that I would be a grandmother on crack and that I would die alone on the streets. I moved away from where I was living. Istarted going to meetings and groups. Since then, I have obtained an apartme...   read more »

My turning point towards recovery began when a rebound relationship turned into a marriage. It was in that marriage that I took a leave of work and regressed back into selling drugs. I started caring more for others than myself. I found myself back in prison. My family cut me off, my husband left me as well as sent all my belongings to the prison with no return address - all of this became something profound for me. While I was serving my time in prison, I reached out to my family. It was after ...   read more »

I started using drugs at the age of 13 years old. I began with marijuana and then when I was 18, I started sniffing cocaine. By the time I was the age of 28, I started using crack cocaine. That messed up my life. I smoked crack every day for 20 years. I hustled every day just to get crack. I thought I could stop on my own, but I couldn’t. I would go to narcotics anonymous (NA) meetings and two day later be smoking again. I cried sometimes when I would mess up a lot of my money. This went on for ...   read more »

My problems started at the age of 7 when my mother started abusing me. Soon enough my mother met my step-father, everything seemed to be going fine. I was going to school and making good grades. We would do family activities such as go to the park, to the movies and such. But one night all that changed... My step-father started to rape me. While this was happening, I couldn’t help but think I had done something wrong and this was my punishment. My mother saw a change in my attitude and how I...   read more »

I had been using drugs since the age of 15, after my mother died. Now at 32, I have finally come to realize that I cannot run from my feelings and problems. First I started attending harm reduction groups to talk about how I feel. After some time of continuous use of narcotics I realize that only complete abstinence from all substances could lay the ground work for me to build a life worth living. I went to rehab and completed that program. Now I attend 12-step meetings, pray daily and gener...   read more »

I began smoking marijuana at the age of 15 or 16. I enjoyed it so much that I continued that habit for years. It wasn’t until the age of 17 that I met two guys that were sniffing dope. I tried it, but didn’t like it because it made me sick, so I stopped after a month. Before I turned 18, I went to jail with a 1–7 year sentence. After I served my time, I got out and returned to my old neighborhood. When I returned I began selling dope and continued to smoke weed. I had never been much of a dr...   read more »

In 1992, I stopped abusing cocaine and heroine. However I didn’t change my behavior and way of thinking. I went to a 7-day detox and at that point an old friend came into detox as well. He introduced me to the 12-step program NA and AA. I began an outpatient drug treatment program in Harlem, NY. In 1993, was when I got rescued/arrested, it was at that time that I choose my path to recovery because I was tired of the same routine every day, month and year. While facing a 25-year-to-life sente...   read more »

My name is Lill S and I am an addict. I am also a survivor of physcial, emotional, and sexual abuse as a child. As a kid I was always afraid. I felt like I had no voice; no choice in what happened to me. I started using when I was 13 and I became a very angry teenager. As a consequence, my parents sent me to live with my older sister who worked as an exotic dancer and she taught me the trade. From the age of 15, I worked in strip joints and night clubs all across the country. I have been o...   read more »

I am a 44 year old, married, Puerto Rican/Italian male and has been sober for 15 ½ years. My turning point at which I chose to begin my path to recovery began when I realized the people that I considered to be my friends where merely just "drug partners". I was very wealthy at one point in my life, but squandered my money on drugs and was being used because of my wealth on a regular basis. "NA and AA didn’t work for me, so I quit doing drugs on my own, with no help from anyone. I was just tired....   read more »

I’ve been an addict for 38 years. Even to date my rent is in the rears. Many things I’ve learned, this seat in recovery I’ve surely earned. In the concrete jungle it’s hard to be discrete, while I painfully hustle in the streets. Many a story been told, some shy, some very bold. I look back on my life and say what a shame, my parents they are not to blame. I got a plan; all it takes is a helping hand. I say to myself get yourself in gear, no time for yester years. I got help from my peers, m...   read more »

I moved to NYC in July 2009. I had been struggling with my addiction of Meth and sometimes crack and alcohol for years. When I got here to NYC I was introduced to a harm reduction model. I was use to 12-step programs, and I didn't quite understand harm reduction nor did I agree with the process. I finally started to feel better about myself when I used. When I was in 12-steps I had to start all over again with my days. (i.e., If I had 6 months clean and used for 1 day then I had to start count...   read more »

I enrolled in Project PRIDE, a self directed recovery system of support, in Feruary 2010, after a relpase in January. I had strayed away from my recovery. I initially attended the groups for the metro card. I was familiar with detox, rehab and support groups and felt that I already "knew" what I "needed" to know. I began to attend groups and really became interested in the information. The facilitator presented the information in a more direct and interactive way. What was also different was tha...   read more »

I started with Project PRIDE for groups in March because I was tired of the groups at my Adult Day Health Care. I had been in recovery for about 1 year but then decided to start working my recovery for me in my own way.I was always honest about my relapse's and the struggles I went through because of drugs. I began to practice Harm Reduction as a way to manage my use. I always thought I had everything under control. I got inviolved in a relationship with someone that also uses. At first it was f...   read more »

I was an active addict from the age of 13 to 26 - that is over half my life. Because I never got arrested, was never forced into rehab, never experienced loss of my house or possessions and had a "normal" life (husband and a college degree), I never thought that I had a problem. It wasn't until I almost lost my relationship with my current fiance that I realized I needed help. We both attended Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and we work everyday on our recovery. Life couldn't be...   read more »

I started drugs as a way to escape and fit in at the age of 14. I made mistakes with drinking. I had fun with drinking especially when there were songs like "Gin and Juice" and "40 and a Blunt". For several years, it was just fun. At the age of 19, I was introduced to cocaine. Cocaine was more work than play. It was hard work just to stay high. With no "real" work experience, I would commit crimes to support my habit. The more crimes I committed, the more money I made. With major crimes came...   read more »

I am going on strong now for 8 yrs. I finally came to the conclusion that I had a drug problem, after being incarcerated for so long and then being placed in Yorktown. I knew then I wanted to change my life, wanted my kids/grands back into my life. It wasn't easy at first but I wanted it that bad, I am now working with the Ameri-corp program and giving back is what I do, it does work you have to want it bad, and I wanted it real Bad!!!! I have the opportuity of working with the same counsel...   read more »

The turning point at which I chose to begin my pathway to recovery was my health. I had one T cell, and that was a wake-up call for me knowing how I had lost a brother and two sisters to this disease as well as seeing four or five people pass away in front of me. My drug addiction led me to a wheelchair. I couldn't go dancing and I couldn't get up and do the things that I had taken for granted. When my body started to sober up that was the greateast time for me. I knew who I was clean. Th...   read more »

In the summer of 1967, I took my first drug. I experimented with all kinds of drugs: alcohol, marijuana, acid, cocaine, and others. I didn't go from one drug to another. I added each new drug to my get high sessions. Hookie parties, at home (though I had to hide it), it didn't matter. Playing in a band also introduced me to many drugs, as in the late 60's and early 70's, professional pop musicians seemed to promote drug use. It seemed to be the thing to do, and I loved it. This was right...   read more »

My turning point are ... first when I was 26 my second in my late 40s and I fought cancer. I am about as rebellious as one can be and if It had not been for the Doctor's, Alcoholics Anonymous and God, I would never have broken the addiction patterns. I overcame out of pain and joy together. I had multiple addictions and I tackled them pretty much one at a time as I still am today, even in sobriety life has to be tackled every day. What I share with others is that whatever struggle you have t...   read more »

I first drank and got drunk when I was 10 yrs. old at my uncles annual barbecue. I got so sick that I had no interest in drinking again until I was about 19 and started going out to bars with my friends. Thinking back, I can't ever remember a time that I ever drank and didn't get completely out of control. My spiral into serious alcoholism started when I was 22 and my parents had passed away within a year of each other and I was left with 2 younger sisters and a lot of responsibility. We sol...   read more »

I started using drugs at the age of 13, by the time I graduated high school I was smoking marijuana daily and drinking several times a week. I began to engage in all kinds of illegal activites to support my habit as I could not earn enough by legal means. My drug and alcohol use got so bad that I was never not under the influence of something. Somehow I managed to hold on to a job during that time. In 1989, I discovered crack which was the begining of the end for me. I got so sick, so fast that ...   read more »