Steve used marijuana as a gateway drug to alcohol. He started using marijuana at age thirteen with an older brother and some friends. By age fifteen, he got into alcohol. By age seventeen, he stopped using marijuana because it did not mix well with his heavy alcohol use. Everything Steve did had to have alcohol involved with it in order for him to find it fun. Steve was a functioning alcoholic until his mid-40s when his addiction caused his life to fall apart and he tried to drink himself to death. Suicide by alcohol was prevented by Steve's twenty-year-old son, and his love for his family turned into greater respect for himself and a pathway to recovery. Now Steve is in a much better place but he is still weary of relapse.

Meet Kendra, a thirty-four-year-old woman who shares her ten-year journey of back pain pills, heroin, homelessness and recovery. Kendra’s emotions are etched on her face. She is not the best narrator but her story is real, beginning with a car accident in her teenage years that caused her to suffer chronic back pain. The medications eventually progressed, and soon she was using and abusing pain pills and heroin by the time she was 24. Kendra soon found herself homeless and has attempted recovery multiple times, only to relapse. Discover how she turned her life around and the motivations she has in her life. Follow her as she courageously bares it all.

Marty, a 31-year-old male, talks about his real-life experience with heroin addiction and his journey of recovery. He is a client of The Gault House Sober Living Environment in Santa Cruz, California and he bravely shares his inspiring story of overcoming the tough experiences and the mental battles with addiction. Starting with being diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, he talks about how that nihilistic view affected his decisions. He lays down the path to progression in taking pills and drugs - going from one to another - and soon the withdrawals that led him to pursue the path to recovery.

Born to a teenage mother, Aquia, an African American female who is now 23 years old, started abusing alcohol at age 12 when she felt her mother loved men more than her and her brothers. That opened the door to drug abuse. Aquia started using Methamphetamine at the age of 18 and was living either on the streets or in jail. At age 22, Aquia was using heroin but all of her drug and alcohol use came to a stop when she came to Santa Cruz to get recovery. Now Aquia is living at Gault House in Santa Cruz, California and working a 5 Guys Burgers. Listen to Aquia in her own words explain how she is loving life and building a solid recovery for herself. She shares her grueling experiences under the influence of drugs and alcohol and the steps she’s taking to staying clean.

Ivy’s recovery from addiction was a long journey that started when she first got hooked on alcohol at the age of sixteen. Her relationship with alcohol led to cocaine and an abusive boyfriend who got her pregnant with a son. Soon after, she developed breast cancer which gave her unlimited access to pain killers. She reached such a low point in her life where her only options became ending it or getting sober. She opted to join a sober living home where she got a lot of support from people who understand and have been through what she was going through. Ivy is clean and sober today and she shares her story to encourage people that nothing is ever hopeless and you can win and recover from addiction.

Insecurity is often the factor that leads to addiction and abuse of drugs. Growing up with Tourette’s, Clara found that smoking weed was an outlet from her illness which then lead to drinking and getting addicted to alcohol. At the age of 20, she knew it was becoming a problem when she cheated on the perfect guy and stole money from her parents. She got tired of being angry with herself and the people around her and chose to work the 12 Steps of Recovery. In her early days of recovering from alcohol addiction, she shares how being present means being accountable and also being excited about life.

Overcoming and recovering from an addiction is never easy. That is, if you keep choosing to do it alone. There are many individuals who travel down the road to recovery who need your support as much as you need theirs. A sober living environment isn’t a treatment facility. Rather, it houses a family of individuals who are serious about overcoming and recovering from their addiction. While it may sound like a shortcut to recovery, a sober living environment is a place for people who are clean and sober and want to stay that way while they work their own programs of recovery. Learn how a sober living house creates an environment of recovery, support and family. 

Curiosity plays a big role in every aspect of our lives. Stefan’s heroin addiction began with him being curious about drugs. He knew that he needed to experience the drug so that he can get the knowledge he was craving for. Although his addiction began with drinking a bottle of tequila at the age of twelve, this had negative effects on Stefan so he turned to smoking weed. This opened doors for him, one of which was shoplifting. Now, Stefan the House Manager at Gault House in Santa Cruz. Learn more of story of addiction, recovery and how he has kept clean for 11 months.

Addiction comes to some of us like a wave of an innocent hand, or a margarita on our 15th birthday. Amanda’s spiral of addiction started like this and her wanting to fit in fueled it. The anxiety of going from high school to college made things go out of control when she started to cash out $70 for a gram of cocaine whenever she could cash it out. Amanda shares honest stories of being an addicted to alcohol and cocaine and her wonderful recovery.

Alcohol addiction starts when everything goes black after that first drink and all you want is to keep drinking even when you know that it’s the wrong thing to do. Food addiction is the same. Any kind of sweet was the new alcohol for recovered alcoholic Michelle Goldberger. Her craving for food was insatiable until she started working the twelve steps at the COR Retreat Center. Even with a 60-pound weight loss, she still battles with food addiction. The desire to eat a lot is gone with the help of the program, but the addiction never leaves. Learn how she addresses this conflict and how to put focus on things that block you from recovering from food addiction.