Voices of Hope is sharing real stories of real people who are in recovery as part of a campaign against stigma and hopelessness. We are grateful for those who have stepped up to be a face and voice of recovery. Every story matters and makes a difference. Thank you Jason!

Jason C.

From an early age I felt that something was wrong with me, and that I was going to need something “different” to make it. When I first started to use drugs, I thought I had found that something different, the solution to all my problems and the secret ingredient that would help me get through life. It was only after years of denial, of no longer living, but barely existing, that I realized that not only were drugs not the answer to my problems, but they had become my biggest problem. This was not a problem I could solve on my own.

I needed a community of people to help me get straight and stay straight. I thought just stopping using would solve all my problems. Little did I now that I was going to have to look internally, with the help of peers, to fill the void that I had inside. The process of coming to learn who I truly am has not always been a pretty one. Along the way, I’ve made a ton of mistakes, but it’s in these mistakes that I’ve been able to learn, grow, and mature in the grace of my higher power and those wonderful, supportive people around me.

This journey has led me to a relationship with myself, which in turn has allowed me to form relationships with others and with the universe itself. I’m the son my mother always hoped I would be. I’m my husband my wife hoped she had married. I’m the father to my 5 wonderful children that I hope they would have chosen if they had the chance. I just graduated with my Masters of Social Work and am now a Licensed Master Social Worker, which I plan to use to provide therapy for people in the community to try to further give back to the world that helped me find my life again. Thank you to everyone who chooses to give. I, and countless others, need you.