It’s that time of the year again as the slopes are now open! This past month, several clients and staff from the Turnbridge Women’s Program loaded up the Suburbans and set out for a day-trip to Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont.

Skiing and snowboarding trips have always been a “fan favorite” at Turnbridge. Learning to participate in recreational activities such as this, and having a great time without using drugs and alcohol, is an imperative part of recovery for young adults and teens.

“I haven’t skied in 6 years, so it was really fun,” Phase 1 resident Brooke I. said. “I had a moment of clarity out there and it was a great bonding experience.” On events like the ski-trip, friendships and bonds between clients and Turnbridge staff are strengthened.

“It was so great, I wish it could be every day,” Miranda D. of Phase 1 said.

“Life is actually worth living; things are actually fun sober,” Evelyn C. stated.

Hope recalls growing up in a loving home.

She had a great childhood and excelled in school from a young age. An avid runner, Hope remembers she used to “always run marathons with my mom.” Hope had a full life, and many things came easy to her.

Hope began experimenting with alcohol for the first time when she was 15 years old and she “really liked it.” Despite being drawn to alcohol, Hope remained dedicated to school and stayed away from drinking for the remainder of high school and continued to achieve high marks. Hope went on to enroll at a prestigious college, where she “went from being the best at everything to being surrounded by people who were also the best at everything.” Hope’s drinking began to progress rapidly in college, and she also began experimenting with prescription stimulants. “I just thought everyone in college were binge drinkers,” said Hope. With the knowledge that she was genetically predisposed to addiction, Hope made a promise to herself to “stay away from the hard drugs.”

While at school, Hope experienced a traumatic event. She subsequently decided to take a medical leave from school, and was prescribed a benzodiazepine to help with her with anxiety. “I didn’t know how to process it and I lost it,” said Hope

After a year-long medical leave, Hope returned to school and pressed on with her education. Shortly prior to her graduation, Hope began dating a guy who would introduce her to opiates. “I started seeing him all of the time, and was doing opiates all of the time,” said Hope. Hope managed to graduate college, and moved back to Oregon with her boyfriend.

Hope got a job as a teacher at a private school. She continued using opiates, but was completely unaware that a physical dependency was developing. “It got to the point where I was addicted without knowing it,” said Hope. But despite her burgeoning addiction, Hope continued to tell herself that she would not use “harder” substances. “I told myself I would never turn to heroin, crack or meth,” said Hope. “Like somehow those were different.” However, as soon as prescription opiates became too difficult to find, Hope turned to the cheaper and more readily accessible street version of the drug: heroin.

Hope managed to hold her job as a teacher through the end of that school year. “I was teaching all day then running home as soon as I got off because I was so sick,” said Hope. Her addiction began to spiral rapidly. By the end of the school year, Hope was using heroin intravenously, and by the end of the summer she was homeless and began using meth. “Things got very, very bad, very quickly,” said Hope.

“My parents tried to help me, but I felt so awful about it so I decided if they didn’t see me or know, I would protect them,” said Hope. She was on the run, living on a boat, and her boyfriend had active warrants out for his arrest. After a private investigator was hired, the police were notified of the boyfriend’s warrants, and they were set up on a drug bust. “I was offered treatment or jail,” said Hope. “I didn’t want to go to treatment, but I really didn’t want to go to jail.” Hope accepted treatment and completed it successfully, but returned home immediately afterward. She picked up where she left off. “I went back to the boyfriend and back to using again,” said Hope. It was not long until Hope found herself back in treatment.

“I told my therapist that I wanted to get help and was sent to a wilderness program,” said Hope. “I was terrified at first, but by the time I left I loved it.” Hope thrived in the wilderness program and as her discharge was approaching, Hope realized that returning home was not in her best interest. Hope was referred to Turnbridge.

“I was so shy and terrified to talk to people at first,” Hope recalls of her first few days at Turnbridge. But, slowly and surely Hope began to come out of her shell and begin building a life for herself in Connecticut. She discovered that she really enjoyed 12-step meetings, and began developing a strong sense of spirituality. Hope has also gotten back into running and working out, which she considers to be a big part of her recovery. “I have made so many great friends here and I really am glad to be where I am,” said Hope.

As a child, Zach was exceedingly bright and always got along with everyone.

Zach’s first experience with alcohol came when he was 13 years old. “I even started occasionally drinking by myself when I was 13,” said Zach. Zach’s drinking progressed rapidly. He drank his way through high school, on the weekends and sometimes on weeknights, but he was still bringing home good grades. Zach’s experimentation extended to marijuana at the tail end of his high school career. Despite these ominous signs, he was accepted into a top university in the state of Texas. However, during Zach’s senior year of high school his father passed away, causing him a great deal of anguish. “I didn’t know what to do,” said Zach.

Zach battled through the depression he was feeling and went on to attend college. He pledged a fraternity upon arrival and throughout his freshman year of college he began trying a greater variety of illicit substances. “I experimented with just about everything,” said Zach. “I still only cared about what others thought of me, regardless of how bad I felt on the inside.”

Zach’s alcohol, cocaine, and benzodiazepine abuse progressed from a couple days a week, to every single day. “I was doing one of those three substances every day for the last 11 months of my use,” Zach said. “I was blacked out all the time, drinking and driving.” In November of 2014, Zach states he had a moment of clarity and “sent my mom a text and said I needed help.” It did not take long before Zach was admitted into a 30-day treatment center in Texas. Following his stay in the 30-day inpatient program, Zach agreed to come to Turnbridge. “I knew I needed a long period of time to straighten my life out,” said Zach.

Upon arrival, Zach immediately started to make friends and dive into the program. “Something I always tell the guys in Phase I is to find your group of friends,” said Zach. “I wouldn’t have made it through without all of my boys. Also, one of the biggest things that helped me was making and following a schedule. I never followed a schedule in my life.”

Once he arrived in Phase III, with the assistance of his Case Manager, Zach got a job at a local coffee shop. Soon after, Zach was offered a House Manager position at Turnbridge. “It was the first time in my life I had real responsibility,” Zach said. “Turnbridge introduced me to a schedule and real responsibilities and being accountable. I learned how to take care of business and have real human responsibilities in Turnbridge, so I was good when I got out of the program.”

“I just finished my first semester back in school and got a 4.0,” said Zach. “I still have those same friends from Phase I & Phase II and they have played a vital role in my journey.”

“I stayed in New Haven after completing the Turnbridge program because I thought people here would hold me accountable, and they do,” said Zach. He recently moved into a house with a couple of his friends in the area. Zach will be attending another full-time semester in the spring, as well as working as a Turnbridge Support Staff member part-time.