The Life I Thought I’d Lost: How OneEighty Peer Supporter Felicia Found Recovery and Purpose
Article Highlights
Felicia’s recovery journey is a powerful reminder that addiction can happen to anyone and that healing is possible with the right support. In this personal story, she shares how a career-ending injury led to substance use, the devastating impact addiction had on her life, and the turning points that led her to recovery at OneEighty. Today, as a Peer Supporter, Felicia helps others find hope, rebuild their lives, and discover that recovery can restore the future they thought was lost forever.
Addiction Didn’t Start the Way You Think
People often ask what addiction is like. The truth is that addiction isn’t just using drugs. It’s watching your entire life slowly become centered around one thing until everything and everyone you once loved comes second.
There was a time when I had a choice.
In 2013, I graduated from Medina County Career Center as one of only three women in my class. I finished at the top of the program and became a certified Firefighter II and EMT-B for the State of Ohio. I had a goal in life and had a dream. I wanted my career to be a flight medic and fly with Metro Life Flight. I always had a passion inside for helping and “saving” people.
When an Injury Changed Everything
I never expected a back injury to change the course of my life.
What started as treatment for physical pain became the beginning of an addiction, I did not see coming. Doctors prescribed medications to help manage my injury, and over time I became dependent on them. When the prescriptions stopped, I was left struggling with both pain and withdrawal.
It was a feeling I had never experienced before. Suddenly, I felt abandoned and unsure how to move forward.
My addiction escalated quickly.
My mom constantly reminded me that I had a safe place to come home to. Her door was always open. But I didn’t go home. I chose the drugs instead.
Looking back, that is one of the hardest truths for me to admit. Addiction convinced me that nothing mattered more than getting high.
Losing Myself to Addiction
As my addiction grew, I entered a relationship that pushed me even deeper into substance use.
I was introduced to a guy, who became my significant other and my drug dealer. Before long, my entire life revolved around obtaining and using drugs. I drifted away from family and lifelong friends. I isolated myself from the people who cared about me and lost pieces of myself that I didn’t even realize were disappearing.
Eventually, I had nothing left.
I became homeless and unemployed. Each day was focused on survival and finding the next fix. I crossed lines I never thought I would cross and made choices that did not reflect the person I truly was.
Addiction changed the way I thought, lived, and the choices I made. It didn’t eliminate my responsibility for my actions, but it completely distorted my priorities and values.
A Wake-Up Call That Changed My Life
Then life handed me a reality check I couldn’t ignore.
I was arrested and facing prison time. Around the same time, I learned I was pregnant.
Those moments forced me to confront the magnitude of what addiction had taken from me and where it was leading me. They became turning points that ultimately brought me to OneEighty’s Beacon House (now Bobbi’s Place), where I began treatment and started the difficult work of recovery.
When my daughter was born, I finally understood what recovery truly meant.
For the first time in years, I had a reason bigger than myself to keep moving forward. On the days when recovery felt impossible, she gave me the strength to keep fighting. Every milestone I witness today reminds me of what recovery has made possible.
The Fear of Starting Over
Walking through the doors of the Beacon House was one of the most terrifying moments of my life.
I had spent so many years surviving in addiction that I no longer knew how to live without it. I was afraid of failing. I was afraid of facing the damage I had caused. I was afraid of discovering who I would be without drugs.
For the first time in years, I had to sit with my emotions instead of numbing them.
The Power of Peer Support
One of the most important parts of my recovery journey was the peer supporter, she walked side by side with me during treatment.She understood my fears, doubts, and shame because she had experienced recovery herself. When I felt like giving up, she reminded me that healing was possible.
At a time when I could not see my own potential, she believed in me.
Looking back, I realize how life-changing that relationship was.
Today, I have the opportunity to provide that same support to others. What makes that even more meaningful is that I now work at the very place that helped save my life. Years after entering the Beacon House as a client, I am now the Facilities Operations Peer Supporter, helping others navigate the same challenges I once faced.
Recovery Is About Rebuilding
Treatment didn’t magically fix my life.
Recovery has been a long process of rebuilding everything addiction tore down. It meant accepting responsibility for my past, repairing relationships, learning healthy coping skills, and discovering who I was beneath the addiction.
One of the hardest parts of recovery was realizing that saying “I’m sorry” wasn’t enough.
Recovery taught me that healing relationships takes time. The people I had hurt needed to see consistency, not just hear apologies. Little by little, I kept my commitments, showed up when I said I would, and worked to become someone others could depend on again. Rebuilding that trust has been one of the most rewarding parts of my recovery.
Why Recovery Matters
When people see someone struggling with addiction, they often only see the consequences. They don’t see the dreams that existed before addiction took hold, the trauma that may be underneath, or the person fighting to find their way back.
I know because I was that person.
Today, my life looks completely different. Becoming a mother gave me a new perspective on recovery. My daughter deserved a mother who would show up, keep her promises, and be present. Recovery gave me just that. Instead of missing milestones because I was chasing drugs, I get to be there for the moments that truly matter.
OneEighty Resources
24/7 Hotlines: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: 1-800-686-112. Peer Support Hotline: 330-464-1423. For those encountering a substance use crisis, please call OneEighty’s Substance Use Crisis hotline, at 330-466-0678. For other resources, click the links below:
OneEighty Resources
For those encountering a substance use crisis, please call OneEighty’s Substance Use Crisis hotline, available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, at 330-466-0678. For other resources, click the links below: