Written By: Wilmarie Hernandez, Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

On August 15, SAMHA hosted a forum on Young People in Recovery (YPR).  The panel discussion, moderated by Ivette Torres, Associate Director, Consumer Affairs, featured three young adults, Sarah Nerad, Danielle Tarino and Benjamin Chin.

Sarah, Danielle and Ben shared their personal recovery stories as well as the programs and organizations that helped them in their recovery process.

“By the time I was in high school everything seemed normal on the outside and I knew that is what I needed to maintain in order to continue using drugs and drinking alcohol secretly,” shared Sarah who has been in recovery for five years.

Danielle, who has been in recovery for 4 years, also shared her experience.  She discussed how her parents thought she was just going through a phase, which fed into her denial of accepting that deep down in her heart; she knew she had a problem with drugs and alcohol.

Ben who has been in recovery for almost five years shared how his childhood was being part of a family with a history of mental illnesses.  He was diagnosed with OCD and was medicated. Even though he was involved in sports and other healthy activities, by the time he was in high school he was using drugs and alcohol very regularly. When he was 19 he was sentenced to 3 years in a state prison for assault.

Sarah went through residential treatment twice and finally found her way, a path that will take her to Boston this fall to start a master program in public policy. Danielle had the opportunity to be accepted in the Recovery House at Rutgers University in New Jersey where, after two years, was hired as the resident assistant. Since last year she has also been part of the federal workforce in SAMHSA. Ben was able to continue his recovery while incarcerated and upon his release, was accepted into the Recovery House at Rutgers University where he is currently completing his bachelor’s degree.

Even though the path to recovery wasn’t an easy one, all of them found the hope, help, support and the services they needed.

We at SAMHSA congratulate these young professionals for their courage to share their personal stories and the incredible work they are doing to help other young people in need.  Sarah, Danielle and Ben embody SAMHSA’s vision that Recovery is Possible and inspire us to continue doing the work that we do in the behavioral health field.

Through the YPR movement, these young adults want to help the current and future generations of young people in recovery to find and sustain long-term recovery. YPR’s vision statement is: “We envision a world where we don’t have to bury any more of our friends due to drugs and alcohol,” while their mission reads:  “We are a movement united at all levels to empower young people to find and sustain recovery. We use our voices to Educate, Advocate and Collaborate.”

YPR consists of a core group of 10 leaders who have been working together since 2010. As a result of their work, they are currently active through different social media outlets and keep integrating new members.  They have been actively speaking with individuals and groups any opportunity they get.

Find out more about Young People in Recovery at www.youngpeopleinrecovery.org:

*** Sarah, Ben and Danielle have consented to sharing their recovery stories