Voices Project

I am the mother of a daughter with a substance use disorder (SUD). I am also a wife, sister, friend, dog owner, New Orleans Saints fan, a lover of all things chocolate, a blogger, a speaker, a family peer support specialist, and an educator/advocate for family members who are navigating the landscape of AUD and SUD. These other facets of me are important to share because for the first five years of my daughter’s addiction, I lost the ability to identify as anything other than the mother of an addict. I was as lost in my daughter’s disorder as she...Read More

My name is Jamie Wilson. I have been living in long term recovery for over nine years. My journey through addiction was one I would not wish on anyone. It all started after my husband of 13 years decided to cheat on me with my best friend which was in 2001. I was living in Tennessee with him and our children and packed up and we came home to Atlanta. I tried my best to put on a brave face for my daughters but I was devastated. I found a roommate and started working and trying to get my life...Read More

On November 4, 2017, we lost our only son, John Ryan, to a fentanyl overdose. He was an Army Veteran who was injured while stationed at Ft. Wainwright, AK. John was in chronic pain for the last year and a half of his military service. By the time he was honorably discharged, he had lost his hope in ever being pain free again. He was disappointed that his military career was cut short, depressed, and when he came home he quickly became addicted to opioids. It was a battle that took his life, but it doesn’t have to take yours....Read More

I started experiencing trauma at a very young age, and it went on into my teenage years. I was physically, emotionally, verbally and sexually abused. I grew up hating drugs because my bio mom was an addict and left when I was 2 years old. I don’t recall ever hearing the word “addiction” back then let alone everything it entails. I had my first drink when I was 11 years old, my second at 14 and once I turned 18 I was drunk every night. I was in a serious car wreck a few months after I turned 18. I...Read More

I know what it feels like to wake up in the ICU with tubes down my throat and asking the doctors, “What happened?” “You overdosed, and almost died. You’re lucky to be alive.” The doctor said. I know what it feels like to plead guilty to a felony crime in front of a judge that could send me to prison for many years. I also know what it feels like to want to stop using drugs in my heart so bad, but I’m my mind I didn’t know how. This isn’t just my story, this is the story of hundreds...Read More

My name is Lauren and I’m an alcoholic whose been sober since June 18, 2010. Growing up, I always felt nervous and uncomfortable and not because I wasn’t loved, I know I was. I just always felt the need to escape. I took my first drink the night I graduated from high school and right out the gate i was a black out drunk, and I loved it. In the beginning, my consequences were mostly having my parents yelling at me but nothing more then that. As the years went on, things gradually started to get worse: car crashes, inpatient...Read More

My names is Derek Langdon I am 41 years old. I took my first drink at the age of 8….at 13 I tried marijuana for the first time. I used crack for the first time at age 15 and as you can see, my disease at the time is in a progression and it continued to get worse. By 18, I had been arrested 3 times to support my habit. I became a 3 time felon by the age of 25. The next 15 years is literally a revolving door in the Department of Corrections (3 times) and I would...Read More

Hello everyone! I am Victoria and my friends call me Tori. I am a grateful recovering addict. Right now, I am 17 month clean and it is a miracle! I drank heavily for 26 years and wanted to die with a drink in my hand. I would call myself a closet drinker because I did everything in my power to hide it. That only worked for so long. …. The day my granddaughter asked, “Is there yuckies in your cup Grandma?” This is the day I realized Enough is Enough! I gave my 18 year old my stash to trash...Read More

I Hate Heroin. You go to bed thinking about it, you wake up thinking about it…all day long in the back of your head you are thinking about it..no…I don’t use heroin, in fact I’ve never used any drugs but my son is an addict. Sometimes in the middle of the night when he is out on the streets I jolt awake because I hear him screaming “Mom, help me.” I wake up with my heart pounding with a cold sweat on my body just knowing that my son just died and I couldn’t help him. It sounds like he...Read More

My childhood was pretty good. As a teenager I drank smoked a little weed and cigarettes. By the time I was 19 I had a 1 yr old daughter and a newborn premature. I remember having to leave her in the hospital in Galveston and being very depressed. I had been home a few days and I was cleaning and hurting real bad. My boyfriend said, take one of my pain pills. About an half an hour later not only was my pain gone but so was my sadness and I had all this energy. That’s where it began. A...Read More