The following post was written by a former Crossroads halfway house client, Ashley N. Next week, we will share a story from a client who wrote about Ashley’s visit.
Thank God for 575 Forest Avenue. I will never be the same, because the work I was able to do in six months changed me forever. I am blessed to have met the friends I have from Crossroads; they have been by my side ever since.
I learned how to live again and about addiction. I built relationships with women, and I was taught tools to use to help get through tough struggles in sobriety. I rebuilt a new life for myself.
Today when I share my story, Crossroads is a part of it and I’m happy to share it because I’m forever grateful for that time in my recovery. For me, when women told me they went through this program, I was enticed to hear what they had to say. What could they say that would help me? If these women did it than so can I! There is courage and hope from these associations.
Going back to the halfway house since my discharge date has been nothing but amazing. I love meeting the new girls there and being able to share my experience with them to hopefully help them get through theirs. It brings me back to all the memories I had while living at Crossroads. Ups and downs, the trials that helped me learn the most. Rules change, the clients change but all the stories and their emotions stay the same and that is what I can relate to. I walk out of there with a glow on my face, because I know in my heart if they continue to take suggestions and keep doing the right things what happened to me can happen to them and it’s a beautiful thing.
I wish to never forget the overwhelming feelings I had when I first went into recovery. Going back to the halfway house to meet these new girls helps me so much to remember what it was like, how it’s changed, and what it is like now. I can give them what I have been given. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for that house and the rules, the groups, the clinicians and the support, love, and relationships I would not be sober today!
It is so important to me to continue to give back and to see where I was at the start and how my life has turned around for the better.
