Recovery Heroes

On August 31 a sober living home for up to eight men opened at 297 Keenburg Road in Carter County, Tennessee. Jason Stout runs it. He also used to live in it — that address is his old house, the one where his worst years happened, and he bought it back and filled it with beds. The ribbon cutting landed on his eighth year clean. Recovery Renaissance, which the Elizabethton Star describes as a nonprofit, is his. In between he robbed a pharmacy, went to prison, and started a recovery program for the men he was locked up with.

"I think change is subconsciously what I wanted more than anything at that point in my addiction."

Dalton started using at 11, trying to cope with feelings he had no words for. At 15 he first walked into Rise Recovery, a San Antonio nonprofit now in its 50th year of serving young people and families at no cost. The turning point was the hardest one imaginable — losing his father to an overdose. Seven years sober at 27, Dalton now works at Rise as a Youth Recovery Specialist, walking teens through the same door he came in — helping with everything from staying clean to college applications.

"That purpose that I found, that passion that I had, was definitely motivated through that experience of losing somebody so close to me."

A decade of addiction that started with prescription pain pills and slid into heroin. A husband lost to an overdose. Nearly losing her kids. Jenny got treatment at BrightView Health and is now five years sober — a homeowner, a business owner, and a mom raising her two children. She tells her story publicly so people still in it know the way out is real.

"I just lost my husband to an overdose, so I had to get it together for them... I own my home now. I own a vehicle. I have a company that's in my name — that is what kept me going."