“My name is Kristan. I’m an alcoholic and an addict.”
Before finding her way to The Owls’ Nest, Kristan’s life had spun out of control. “Life was very unmanageable,” she says. “I had lost my children, my family, and all of my friends. I was hopeless.”
Her mother passed away when she was just 14 and the grief became her breaking point. “I had to grow up really fast,” Kristan remembers. “I started drinking on weekends, smoking pot, and when I turned 21, I discovered Happy Hour.” The “happy” in happy hour was anything but and as her addiction progressed, opiates began to take over.
A Desperate Arrival
By the time Kristan came to The Owls’ Nest, she had already been through “outpatient, inpatient — nothing worked.” She was, as she puts it, “in desperation.”
But the moment she arrived, everything felt different.
“I was greeted with hugs and love,” she says. “I felt like I was home.”
After years of isolation, it was the first time she’d been surrounded by people who didn’t look at her with judgment, only compassion. “Everyone greeted me with open arms,” she recalls. “And for the first time, I was actually willing to admit that I did have a problem.”
Finding the Real Solution
Kristan thought she had tried everything but she hadn’t yet found the solution.
“I had never been exposed to the true solution, which is the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,” she says.
With the guidance of the Nest community and her sponsor, she began to work the steps. And something started to shift. “I began working in intake, working with other alcoholics,” she explains. “At first, I never understood what they meant, that by working with others, I could actually grow.”
But she learned that recovery wasn’t just about quitting substances, it was about learning how to live again, one day at a time.
One Day at a Time, One Connection at a Time
“Life is great, but not always perfect,” Kristan says with a laugh. “I have to take it one day at a time.”
Today, she’s got the tools she needs and the network that makes it possible. “Having completed The Owls’ Nest, I have the tools I need to live in the solution,” she says. “I have an amazing network. I attend outside meetings. I have a life today.”
It’s not just about sobriety, it’s about belonging. “I was greeted with love. I felt like I was home,” she says.
Love Works Where Willpower Can’t
Kristan’s story is proof that healing starts with hope and that recovery doesn’t begin when you stop using. It begins when you start connecting.
From hopeless and alone to loved and alive, Kristan’s journey shows what’s possible when you walk through the doors and say yes to help.
If you’re ready to find your own version of home, call The Owls’ Nest today.
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