RECOVERY STORY OF THE MONTH

Mallory B.
Sobriety Date:  February 21, 2022

I have struggled with addiction for about half of my life and have been seeking treatment and solution for many years. I have been in countless rehab facilities, sober livings and detoxes all around the country, and here in Ohio. I started abusing drugs at a young age and found myself to feel very hopeless, depressed and lacking purpose throughout my adult years. My addiction has caused me to harm people I love, myself, people I don’t even know and pretty much anyone that would cross my path. I was ungrateful, undisciplined, uneducated and was unable to see any real future for myself. After leaving my hometown, I thought that a geographical cure was exactly what I needed, I later learned that addiction will destroy you no matter where you are at, as long as you aren’t working a solid program surrounded by the right people.

… addiction will destroy you no matter where you are at, as long as you aren’t working a solid program…

For years, multiple respected women had been suggesting that I go to the Jean Marie House. I was fresh out of jail with nothing to my name, very little ambition but just enough to give Jean Marie House an honest try. Through my time living here at Jean Marie, I have had enough time, support and encouragement to have achieved having over a year of sobriety. I have been surrounded by supportive women who constantly pick me up when I have felt down, I have felt a sense of community unlike I have in any other treatment center I have been in, and I have had the most fun in sobriety. The structure, understanding and love that alumni, Katie Patton and Michelle Taft have provided has been a huge key factor in my life today. I no longer hurt anyone in my life, my family has welcomed me back in, I am trusted, I am employable, I finally see a bright future for myself and am grateful for the most simple things on a daily basis. I have made real friendships that i never thought I would. Jean Marie has given me the chance and time to get my feet on the ground and be sober and happy back in Cleveland which I never thought was possible. 

… I finally see a bright future for myself and am grateful for the most simple things on a daily basis.

Today, I enjoy helping others. I enjoy seeing aspects in my life where I can grow as a person and having the support that comes along with that. I have a real job, I work full time, I pay my bills. I give rather than just take. I am a daughter, sister, niece, aunt, and friend. I finally feel like someone who is whole. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity at life that AA, The Jean Marie House and God has given me.