“I knew that I would need a long-term, intensive program in order to straighten up. New Directions helped me recover from my addictions and turn my life around.”
Karen Rayford
Karen Rayford
Karen Rayford
Until my senior year in high school, I excelled, even playing on the high school basketball team. In my senior year, things started to change – and my grades plummeted. I was kicked off the basketball team and was forced to attend summer school in order to graduate. I felt like a failure. I joined the U.S. Navy as a way of making my family proud and earning money to go to college. After suffering trauma while in the military, I started using drugs recreationally. Within a matter of years I found myself homeless and living on the streets of the San Fernando Valley, smoking crack cocaine. Finally, after 20 years of addiction to drugs and alcohol – with intermittent periods spent in a number of jails – I decided enough was enough. Two years ago, after getting out of jail for yet another time, I asked my parole officer to bring me to New Directions. I knew that I would need a long-term, intensive program in order to straighten up. New Directions helped me recover from my addictions and turn my life around. I am currently working at the VA as an outreach worker; extending my hand to other addicts who are suffering like I once did. I now live with my partner of several years, and we have our own apartment. I continue to share the message of recovery with the residents of New Directions, and I participate in the agency’s alumni program. |
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