Give yourself a chance! [Douglas Pearson]

My name is Douglas Pearson. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I was raised in the housing projects, and the area was terrible; the crime and murder rates were high for that period. I grew up in a single-parent home, and as I aged, I mimicked how to handle problems and issues that arose, which means that I started drinking around the age of 13, and by the time I was 18 years old, I had graduated to harder drugs. I had always vowed to never inject drugs into my body because I had seen firsthand their effects on my mother and her friends. If I couldn't smoke it, I wasn't doing it. My life became so dark that by the time I was 24 years old, I tried to commit suicide. After that, my dad decided to send me to California for a geographical cure. I lived in California for 10 years, in which, the first 5, I was doing really good, and then Dougie Fresh showed up (my nickname), and everything went down the tube, or you could say, up in smoke.
I came back to Ohio and went to the Salvation Army in Cleveland. I did well there, but I left because I got what I needed, leading me back to active use. I returned to the Salvation Army, but they had to go to the Akron location. When I got there, a life of recovery welcomed me with open arms. When I became willing to look at myself, I became the man I was born to be. Today I have 15 years of recovery, and I get to live a life that does not require me to look over my shoulder. I entered into a recovery home where I lived for two years. When I completed my tenure there, I was invited to give back to the new men. I volunteered there for 10 years. I enrolled in Akron University, earning an associate's Degree in Chemical Dependency. I also obtained a CDCA II. I'm a Certified Peer Supporter-Supervisor. At the end of the day, though, I'm just trying to make a better decision today. Today I'm the Director of the men's program at ARC Recovery Services.