Eric was a blues-man but he didn’t know it until he was 45 and won the 1997 PDAP Absolutely Male contest much to the chagrin of his wife. His recovery journey started in 1995 when the Army sent Eric to San Antonio with a family afflicted by his teenager’s drug addiction. Like so many other fathers, Eric was at a loss and lost with the addiction in his family. In 1996, he, his wife and daughter first entered the doors of Rise Recovery’s Palmer Drug Abuse Program family group. His family’s healing soon began. Now Eric and his family are in long-term recovery which means his family has been drug and alcohol free since April 2000.

It took Eric a while to get to Rise Recovery. He retired from the Army in 2003 and started a career as a research scientist with Battelle Memorial Institute which ended in 2017. Throughout this period Eric was active as a member of the family group, the family group steering committee, and a volunteer for Rise Recovery’s sibling  and child support support program, New Generations (New Gens). In March of 2017, Eric enrolled in Peer Recovery Coach Training and began his internship at Rise Recovery. On January 2, 2018, Eric was hired to work with Family Group (for family members of those struggling with substance use issues, age 18+) and our New Gens Group (age 9-17).

Eric has a passion for recovery, people and fun that he brings to all he meets. He brings his passion and over 20 years of recovery experience to Rise Recovery and the people we serve.