Amber: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years
Life in recovery is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It requires determination, diligence, and patience. You have to follow through with it every day once you commit to changing your life.
The Foundry helped me realize that all the suffering, stress, and addiction comes from not knowing you are what you’re looking for. In June of 2019, I entered The Foundry after five years of meth and crack addiction and being in and out of jail.
I finally realized that this was my chance to turn things around. I decided to take my recovery seriously. I became involved and set goals for myself. I left The Foundry on March 13, 2020, which was also the same day that the country shut down and COVID was declared a national emergency.
Nevertheless, I got my GED the following week and began college classes the next semester. I landed a job as a student intern with the Bicentennial Commission until its closing in September of 2020. I then began working as the Assistant to the Executive Director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. I get to work with the families of incarcerated youth and share my story with them in hopes of convincing them that second chances are possible and change can happen.
I couldn’t have done any of this without the support I received from The Foundry, my family, and my friends. For all that I was and all that I will be, thanks be to God.
