My journey began with a mother that was a very loving, nurturing and insightful woman. My childhood was filled with joy and enrichment. She shared a lot of her wisdom with me throughout my childhood and gave me all of the tools she felt I needed to become a successful independent woman. I was a member of a synchronized swim team, Girl Scouts, Jr. Red Cross Volunteer; voted Most Popular in High School, Captain of Competitive High School Swim Team, and Varsity cheerleader; traveled outside and throughout the U.S. before 18 years of age. I attended University of Southern California and graduated from Texas Women’s University. I received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree and Master’s degree in Education with a certification in Early Childhood Education, was selected as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, voted DISD teacher of the Year and was a recipient of the Golden Apple Award from Hartford Public Schools. I taught kindergarten in DISD for 13 years and 2nd and 5th grade for 2 years in Hartford, Connecticut. I mention these accomplishments because I had a wonderful and loving childhood. Drug addiction does not apply to any particular socio-economic group or status- quo. The disease of addiction robbed me of all the positive things in my life for which I had worked. Instead of prosperity, my addition took me to a place of emotional, spiritual and physical bankruptcy. I used drugs for 10 years. It was not until I reached a place of extreme hopelessness that I realized that jails/institutions were not a part of the vision my mother had for me. This is when I sought help to recover. In June of 2003 I began my journey of long term recovery, a new journey that involved walking a totally different path. This journey involves me helping others. I am currently certified by the State of Texas as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist and have a Masters in Social Work from Texas A&M- Commerce University. I am motivated by my commitment of making a living amends to my mother, who died before I got clean/sober. I know that my dedication to help others would make her proud of me. I began praying for direction and realized that my passion for children was still there. I also discovered a new passion which involved working with women suffering from the same disease that so affected my adult life. Through prayer, my vision became clear. I wanted to give women and children the same hope, comfort and stability that had sustained my growing up. It was with this vision that Hopeful Solutions was born.