Testimonials

The picture of on the left was me in active addiction. I was broken down, selfish, depressed, suicidal, unreliable, a liar, cheater and scam artist. I struggled for over 10 years and never accepted any help because I didn’t recognize that the problem was me. I abandoned my family, friends, jobs and everything that I had to my name for just one more fix, but it was never enough to fill the black hole of a void that was in my soul. I was given all the opportunities a girl could dream of, but was too self-centered to realize it or care about it. When my parents found me overdosed, I finally gave up the fight and decided to give myself a chance.

Fast forward 14 months to the picture on the right – I am an entirely new woman. My clean date is August 10, 2018. I accepted the helped I needed. By no means did I do it perfectly or right the first time, but I finally surrendered and took the suggestions. I changed EVERYTHING. I came down to Florida with no one but myself and it’s been the biggest blessing. Today I am a daughter, a sister, an employee, a friend, a support for other women and, most importantly, an aunt to the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen. Today I’m filled with so much joy and happiness that I can’t contain it sometimes. I’m held accountable, I have responsibilities, and I try my best to be a better person than I was yesterday. I still make mistakes, but I remain teachable. The program of NA saved my life. I let go and let God! Today I can give away what was so freely given to me. Today I have a solution, I have tools, I have the most immaculate support system, and know that I’m never alone. Today I am free. Thank you for letting me share, and thank you Foundations Wellness.” – September 24, 2019

“I struggled with my addiction for over 10 years. During those 10 years, I was able to put some time together, using only sheer will. In those periods of time when I was sober, I still wasn’t content with life. Overall, I was an unhappy person. I would try to forget the fact that I was an addict and live a normal life, but, every time. life had a way of reminding me that there was no forgetting. My runs of addiction were long and dark and took me to depths I thought I’d never go, just to feel well.

Today, with the support of this amazing sober community, I found happiness, passion and motivation. These are things I had given up on in my past. Every day is a journey and I can’t wait to see what this chapter of my life has for me. Thank you to Foundations Wellness and everyone that has been there for me and helped me get to this point.” – September 17, 2019

“My journey started out at around 11 years of age, with using substances and toxic behaviors to escape reality. I’m dually diagnosed; mental illness is a part of my story. I started cutting at 11, had bulimia at 16, and attempted suicide twice by the time I was 18. So when drugs came into my life, it was the perfect medicine for me. I was undiagnosed at the time.

Heroin was the first thing to make me feel like life was going to be alright, until I had enough emotional turmoil to end it again. Relapse and toxic relationships were the perfect combo for me until about 2017, when I’d sit back at family affairs and wonder how it was going to be once I was gone. I carried suicide notes on my person wherever I went. Drugs had finally brought me to the lowest point of despair and I attempted to end it one last time. Since then, I have been bouncing in and out of rooms all over the East Coast, trying to work the program my way, thinking I was different.

In April 2019, I found myself relapsing while staying at a halfway house – and bringing other people out with me. I was hitting a stem and sobbing in a small abandoned drug house in Richmond, Virginia… and I’m from Jersey. Something had to change.

Though feeling defeated and hopeless from attempting sobriety so many times, I decided to give rehab one more chance. This time, I would not act like I knew everything. I went to Mississippi and then reached out to a friend from my hometown who I had seen come to Port St. Lucie and thrive. And so I came to Port St. Lucie myself.

Through an amazing network and meetings, a great treatment center (thank you Foundations Wellness), and a God of my understanding, today I am five months sober and clean. From a junkie who couldn’t get 30 days to someone that has decided to remain teachable, humble, and willing, the peace I have today is like no other. Even though some days are going to suck, I love living today and stay in it.” – September 10, 2019

“I started my drinking career at the age of 11 or 12 in junior high school. I was the star point guard of my school’s team, so when my drinking was discovered, it was also excused. Along with drinking with my older brothers and cousins, I was also introduced to selling drugs. Making money – good money at that – at a young age made me very unappreciative of the value of money and what it takes to earn it.

At 13, I was given my first car, a Cadillac Eldorado. Because my family was well-known in the community, I was also introduced to a liquor store owner who enabled me to purchase liquor at 13, which wasn’t good for a beginning alcoholic. I started my boxing career at the age of 15, and continued with it, successfully, to heights one can only imagine. I was very successful as an amateur and extremely successful as a professional, gaining two World titles and fighting worldwide on TV over 15 times.

I continued to drink throughout my boxing career however. It started to take a toll on me physically, emotionally and mentally. I distanced myself from everyone because I had major trust issues. I blew thousands of dollars weekly on liquor, clubs, women, fake friends, cars, a house, apartments and other miscellaneous stuff. It all added up, to the point where I started to lose it. All of my so-called friends were gone. I could no longer afford so many different places, so I lost my out-of-state 8,000- or 9,000-square-foot house and all of apartments. Still, I didn’t see my drinking as a problem.

After blowing pretty much everything and losing all of the people around me, I decided to get married. I continued drinking throughout that marriage. My wife didn’t like my drinking, so, of course, I chose the bottle over her. I left her and we divorced. I was really struggling, but I continued to drink for years. Meanwhile, I was in and out of relationships, including being there for my two daughters.

Finally, I came to the realization that alcohol had ruined my life. By this time, I was on my second marriage and had been in four different facilities. What I learned, though, was that I was the problem and that alcohol controlled my life.

Now, I’m five months sober, and I realize that I am in the biggest and hardest fight of my life against my alcoholism. It’s an everyday fight for me, but I can’t drink no matter what. It’s a fight I realize that I cannot fight by myself. I have and will continue to grow a great support network, continue to go to meetings, and continually remind myself that today is my Step One Day, even if I have to repeat it to myself constantly.” – September 3, 2019 

“I started using drugs and alcohol at a very young age as a way of dealing with my feelings of not being good enough or not fitting in. I have always used beyond my financial needs – to the point of lying, cheating, and stealing from anyone in order to support my habit. In active addiction, I have mentally and physically harmed my family as well as myself. I had made many attempts to end my own life by purposefully trying to OD to end the miserable cycle that kept repeating itself. I have been to countless treatment centers as well as detox with the same result in the end… a relapse from not doing any work on myself after my discharge.

I came to Foundations Wellness at 145 pounds and detoxed cold turkey on the couch at the house. It was miserable, but I made it through with the kind words and help from the staff. My first two weeks, I did not want to stay. I was miserable and hot-headed, but they did not give up on me. I’m here today because of the staff as well as the men and women around me who continue to support me – these people, I consider family. I work a strong AA program, I have a sponsor who has a sponsor, I take suggestions, I have a good understanding of the 12 steps and I and work them, because if I take one of those key components away from my life, I will end up where this disease has always taken me, or worse. Today I have my daughter in my life, which is a feeling I can’t even explain. I do the next right thing and help others on a daily basis. Life still happens, but I have the tools to get through one day at a time – sometimes one second at a time. Life is so much better now, and if this hopeless addict can get through it, anyone can.” – August 27, 2019 

“I was introduced to the program of recovery at a young age when I was court-ordered to a rehab at 16. At that time, I had no idea how serious this disease is or how much it was going to truly be a part of me. Just to give you an example of how far down I went: Last year, I was Baker-Acted 15 times and arrested five. My weight dropped from 150 to 100 pounds. I became so depressed that I tried to commit suicide multiple times. Whether it was overdosing or walking toward oncoming traffic on I-95, I was exhausted physically, emotionally and mentally. My friends and family couldn’t even look at me because they saw the ugly truth that I couldn’t. They saw me dying a little more each day, right in front of their eyes. When I finally found my way back to this program, I was extremely lucky to have the gift of desperation, and to know what it was like having a fellowship of people in recovery,,, and how much I missed that support in my life.

Recently, I turned 21 and did not use. My clean date is 10/28/18. I never dreamed that I would be able to stay clean and be this happy. I was finally able to make progress in this program when I let go completely, asked/let others help me, humbled myself, and started putting the work in to better my life. I can honestly say I’ve never been so proud and grateful of the woman I am still growing to be today. But I will never let myself forget that scared little girl I was just a couple of months ago. Thank you Foundations Wellness!” – August 20, 2019

“My drug addiction became a way of life. I was a full blown drug addict at 19 years old and it took my life to unimaginable places. Jails, institutions, and death became what I perceived to be a normal life. When I decided to leave Philadelphia and go t.o Foundations Wellness Center in April of 2019, it was the best decision I could have made for myself. By living an honest life in recovery and participating in life, it’s opened my eyes to everything I have to look forward to. The 12 steps have changed my soul. None of this would be possible without God. My relationship with Him has given me a peace I didn’t know was possible. I no longer have to get my confidence from a pill bottle or dope bag. Words can’t describe how thankful I am to Foundations Wellness Center and their caring, compassionate staff for everything they’ve done to help me succeed in recovery.” – August 6, 2019

“I’ve struggled with addiction for over a decade. In the process, I compromised my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. I’ve lost many job and educational opportunities, the trust of friends and family, and most importantly, my sense of self. I was once again blessed with an opportunity to turn my life around. Over the past few months, I took the opportunity and haven’t looked back. Today, I’m beyond grateful for the ability to wake up each day sober, clear-headed, and with another chance to be the man that God intends me to be. None of this would be possible without my family, friends, a solid program of recovery at Foundations Wellness, and most importantly – a Higher Power.” – July 30, 2019

“For the last five and a half years, I’ve made many futile attempts at maintaining any significant length of sobriety. Continuing to run from my problems, I’ve struggled wherever I’ve ended up. Whether it be here or Pennsylvania, my problems and past continued to haunt me. No geographic change could provide the relief I was looking for. I lived a bleak existence of building my life up slowly and then destroying it all, dragging family and friends through the mud with me.

Fortunately, my family and friends never gave up on me. I owe so much to the people around me in Florida and back home. My family has been so understanding and supportive through this while process. The true friends I’ve made down here have always been behind me and have helped pick me up despite falling constantly. I’m a firm believer that you are who you surround yourself with. I owe my minor success this time around to family and friends who have shown me that life is not so much about what you have in material things, but how connections and friendship can lead to a lifetime of great times and happiness.” – July 23, 2019

In the first picture on the left, I was on my first run at treatment. I had been doing drugs and drinking alcohol for 13 years. I always thought I was doing drugs and alcohol just for fun; I never thought I had a problem until I couldn’t afford to get it anymore. I never believed that I was an alcoholic either, and when everyone called me one, I just thought they were crazy because it wasn’t true. I turned myself into treatment to get help, did well, and ended up relapsing after six months. I was in and out of treatment, detox, and halfway houses. I’d only stay for maybe two weeks and then leave because I would get scared and ran from my problems. I had overdosed two times in a two-month span. I would isolate myself and not talk to anyone – not even my family.

When I was in detox, Marisa found me broken mentally, physically and emotionally, and that’s when I came back to Foundations Wellness again. And when I came back to Foundations for my fourth and final round, it wasn’t easy – it was hard. I didn’t like myself, but, with the hard work of the Foundations team, I have started to like myself a little more each day. Where am I now? On Saturday, I’ll have six months sober. That’s the second picture. I have a sponsor, I have finished my AA steps, I go to meetings, and soon I’m going to start sponsoring other women. It’s just crazy how my life has changed in just a short amount of time. I’m working and actually doing something; I’m working hard toward my goals in life. I wouldn’t be able to do it without the team at Foundations. You have changed my life! – July 16, 2019