From hopelessness to hope

Despair, pain, loneliness and hopeless. This is how I felt at the end of my 20 years of drinking and using. I found myself wondering how this happened. It was at this time that the loving hands of the Pelican Intervention Fund reached out to help and offered me a scholarship to a 12 step recovery house. It was here that the miracle happened and real change took place. Today I am grateful for my experiences in addiction. The pain and hopelessness I once felt has become my greatest tool to help others. I thanks the Pelican Intervention Fund from the bottom of my heart. – Jason Eaton

The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do

At the age of 28 I was in the grips of addiction and new recovering would be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. In February 2020 I received a scholarship from the Pelican Intervention Fund which has completely changed my life. It gave me the help I needed to get on my own two feet and become financially independent. I am able to sponsor other women today and have the relationship with my family I have always wanted. I am forever grateful to the Pelican Fund for helping me every step of the way. – Delia

A Very Grateful Mom

I already knew the extreme pain of losing a child. My oldest son was killed by a drunk driver in 2004, when he was 21 years old. As excruciatingly painful and life changing as it was for me to lose a piece of my heart, there is nothing that could have prepared me for the news I received on October 28, 2014. My 29 year old son had a warrant issued for his arrest.  My already broken heart was ripped out of my chest when I learned that my son had overdosed on heroin in his car in a parking lot in Lawrence two months earlier in August, 2014. How could this happen?  How did I not know?  My son had a good job, owned his own home and was engaged to be married to a beautiful, wonderful girl. 

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Young Woman 6 Years Sober

Happiness was not something I was comfortable with. It had nothing to do with how or where I grew up it had to do with what was inside of me. I was constantly searching for someone or something to fill a void within myself. I began to find happiness in drugs and alcohol. I started experimenting with drugs as an early teen and I quickly discovered that it was what I had been searching for my whole life. These substances completed me and filled my life with joy. As my life moved forward I discovered cocaine which I abused for many years, but it still wasn’t enough and I found my drug of choice which was heroine. Within months I was using heroine intravenously several times throughout the day. It made my life manageable and worth living.

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A Thankful Father

I’ve experienced the power of the Twelve Step based program.  One of my children became addicted to heroin and I had to watch helplessly as she was lost to us.  Not only was the addiction devastating to my child but also to our family.

I couldn’t believe this could happen to my child and was in denial: I enabled because I wanted to believe all the excuses that I was given.  When I realized the control the drug had on my child and the things she did to feed the addiction; I came to realize this was a disease that needed to be treated.

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Man in Recovery

Although there are many paths of recovery, the one that I was placed on was a spiritual 12 step path.  When practiced daily in my life, I see tangible results from something that is seemingly intangible.  I came into this program broken down from the self-imposed prison of opiate addiction that I had created.  After many years struggling, a solution has been offered to me that isn’t just a “quick fix.” It is truly a design for living that works.

A Thankful Mom

Addiction is a family disease that causes pain, anxiety and a sense of helplessness and can tear families apart. In this time of darkness and isolation, sharing the wisdom of the Twelve Steps at AL ANON I found hope, peace and healing through a spiritual journey. Such recover is a process of transformation over time.

I watched my daughter also heal at the roots as she journeyed through treatment and long term residency in Sober Living. Here in a community of love, support and accountability she learned the necessary tools to change and lived the values inherent in the Twelve Steps.  In community, over time, she rediscovered hope, self-worth and purpose and began to heal.

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