Vanessa Lives Her Recovery Dreams

After my first week at Mountainside, I began to hear the words “A life beyond your wildest dreams,” a lot. Like every newcomer, I had moments where I thought that phrase was nonsense and moments were I thought I would immediately become a millionaire after a year of sobriety.

Three years later without a drink or a drug, I know exactly what it means. When I left Mountainside, I moved to California, where I had always dreamed of living). I went to live at The Chadwick House, a female sober living environment and also started an IOP Program called the Buckeye Recovery Network. After a few months working at a job I hated, I began working for the Chadwick House. A place that, along with Mountainside’s foundation, changed the way I viewed the world to become one in which I gave back, had patience and practiced humility. Over the next few years, I would meet my now fiancé, adopt a puppy, and eventually land at a job where I work for the CEO of Chadwick House and continue to volunteer and develop a career I am passionate about.

Although I am far from home in Brooklyn, NY, I am closer than I have ever been with my family. My family was one of the many things I lost in addiction. I have built back trust in relationships that were long gone by making amends and continuing to show up for the important people in my life, each and every day. In addition to abstaining from drugs and alcohol, I have worked on my eating disorder by maintaining a healthy diet and engaging in exercise with other women in sobriety that I have met through the program. Today, I can sit with myself. I am proud of myself and I am excited for my future – a life beyond my wildest dreams.