Sharing Our Stories

Sharing Our Stories

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Sharing Our Stories episodes

  • Sharing Our Stories - Imani S. Latif

    Our Guest today is Imani S. Latif from New York city. She has been in Colorado since 1994.


    Imani is the founder of It Takes A Village, LLC

    Her battle with addiction started when she was young. She always found love with the biggest drug dealers in the city. She was cooking her own freebase in her apartment and was a functioning addict with a job. She didn't mind it and was doing her thing; her family couldn't really tell her nothing because she was functioning. She got pregnant by her boyfriend at the time and at the ultrasound she was told her baby would be born without a brain, so she had to make a tough decision to let it go. The doctors told her she would never be able to have a baby. She decided that day that she would get clean. She saw her boyfriend get high and couldn't believe that's what she looked like when she was using.


    Imani made the decision for herself to leave that boyfriend who gave her allowance paid rent on the apartment, all the amenities would be gone but she had to make the decision for herself to be better and get into a better situation. After that she met Hassan (her now husband) at her job where he was interviewing for a position. She asked him to hang out on new year's and they did. From there Hassan asked Imani to turn Muslim and they would get married, but it had to be on their terms. So, she finally converted and called Hassan to let him know the news. A lady answered the phone and Hassan had already married somebody else. (OUCH!) Couple of months later Imani met a man and had a child with him (her only child) which the doctors said would never be possible and was the biggest blessing she could have ever asked for. Soon after her job was paying people to relocate and was granting them funds based on how many years they worked in the company. Imani took it and moved her and her son to Colorado where Hassan was also. The rent was cheap in Colorado in 1994 and she had already been out here to visit Hassan before! Right as Imani showed up, she got a job within 3 weeks of moving because she doesn't like doing nothing being stagnant.


    She now is an advocate for the HIV/AIDS/LGBTQ community she has been doing outreach for 40 years and has groups and meetings talking about safe sex, racism, jobs. Led by Arel Flynn, he is the biggest advocate in this community being one of the leaders of brothers forever. Listen to the rest of the story here.


    Find It Takes A Village in Aurora, Colorado right on the 15-bus line off of Leema and Colfax

    1475 Leema St Open 9-5 Mon-Thursday 9-3 on Fridays

    Testing Available Now

    Phone # 303-367-4747

    Website: Ittakesavillagecolorado.org


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    58 min
  • Sharing Our Stories - Stacy Kay Syphers

    Our guest today is Stacy Kay Syphers from Colorado.


    Originally from Indiana Stacy was a cheerleader in the 80s drinking boons farm, that was her first experience with drinking in high school. Around the same time, she was also starting to have an eating disorder. She wanted to leave her small town to see the world, so she joined the military. She is 100% service-connected disabled through the VA.


    When she left at 18 and came to Colorado, the state then had the grandfather clause which allowed adults to drink at 18. She then started being a bartender and doing cocaine to stay skinny, she was also on mental health meds stemming from the military. Stacy was then in rehab for the first time back in Indiana where she met the man who gave her 2 more kids, she had her first baby in the military.

    She has Kennedy, Kerrigan and Nichole. Nichole will be a psychologist; Kennedy is a cancer survivor with a titanium rib cage. Kerrigan who just got married and is now a massage therapist. Stacy is very blessed and proud to have such wonderful kids. After her failed marriage they moved back to Colorado, and she was sober for 13 years. She had lost her mama and father to Cancer in the same amount of time she was getting Kennedy through her Cancer treatment. Through all of this she stayed sober, but she was never loving herself and giving herself attention that we need as humans. She relapsed off a glass of wine and found herself almost committing suicide soon after.


    She relapsed right when the world shut down for COVID so rehab and recovery was SUPER challenging because she couldn't do any in person work with friends and people in these programs.

    Being a woman and a Ex vet from the military there is a sense of pride they have. "People can have PTSD for many different reasons." Her current husband David is somebody she went to high school with and now they have been together 17 years. And she loves him for assisting her through her addiction. She knows what she had to do, and it takes self-worth. You have to be the one who wants change. Mental illness is real please reach out and get help. There are resources for every situation and if there isn't we will help you find where they are and put you in front of the right people who can help. Mental illness is a lifelong journey. Stay sober and stay in check. "We can be broken, and beautiful."

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1 hr 1 min

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