Dear Joseph,
We didn’t know what a substance use disorder looked like until our own son struggled with the disease in college.
After a long, often lonely journey alongside our son through the dark, scary, tunnel of addiction, we now find ourselves in the light of recovery. Our son did a lot of hard work to get here and recognized his old habits were not working for him. He knew he needed to change… and that he needed help to do it.
We also did a lot of hard work as parents – not just in getting him the help he needed, but in educating ourselves and supporting our ability to cope and understand what was happening. We had no prior experience with substance use, so it took us a while to learn and accept that it is a disease that hijacks the brain's ability to make rational decisions, and that those afflicted feel they need substances to survive, in the same way that we need food and water and air.
We were able to get the treatment our son needed and now volunteer as Parent Coaches for the Partnership. If I could say there is a silver lining to this journey, I’d have to say it is the opportunity we now have to continue learning, and to help other families by sharing our experience, our perspective and critical tools to help their child.
Make your gift today to support Parent Coaches, like us, to ensure we can connect with even more families in need.
Throughout the month of December
your gift will be matched by the Partnership’s generous Board of Directors.
That means your donation goes twice as far helping families facing addiction this holiday season.
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