Success Story: Ryan

“I came to the program when I was 15 under ‘duress.’ My parents were concerned about me so they called the school counselor. She invited me to be a part of a group on campus.  I didn’t belong in a drug group. I was just smoking weed on the weekends. My grades were good and I participated in all the things that were expected of me. I told my parents they were going to make me have a worse problem by exposing me to a bunch of drug addicts and they told me, ‘You are going to meet a lot of people riding the bus because a driver’s license is not in your near future.’  So emotionally they dragged me…and boy am I ever so grateful they did. What I got from the program was totally different than what I expected. The people there cared for me unconditionally. They did not require that I ‘qualify’ by giving me a label. They challenged me to try the program 100% and promised if I didn’t like it after 30 days that I didn’t have to attend anymore.  Well, that was 8 years ago and needless to say I stuck around. I didn’t get sober right away. Honestly it took me 3 months to get 30 days sober but every time I relapsed they would encourage me to keep trying instead of give up on me.  Where I am today?  I graduated college last year with a teaching degree. I still choose to be drug (and alcohol) free.”