Family Stories
Tarot
My name is Tarot, and I’m an alcoholic. i’ve been sober for about 16 months now. The APG means so much to me. Every Wednesday, being able to see my friends and connect over recovery. Sometimes in my week i just feel so unmotivated and bored and then i remember it’s almost Wednesday and i become so excited. Community is so important for recovery, especially in young people. when i was in use i just thought i would never be able to have fun again once i got sober. But with all these people here for me, they have shown me how to have fun. I’m so grateful for Bridges and everyone that comes together to make it possible.
Izzy
I started using drugs at a very young age, searching in a life of crime and violence and drugs for a father figure and my identity. My mother was at a loss trying to find ways to help me and no one else seemed to know where to look or who she could turn to. Luckily, she found a treatment center in Southern Washington and during the end of my eighth grade year, I was admitted. It was a low point: I felt helpless at the time, having lost my best friend to gang violence and seeing everything spin way out of control. I had got out after being in there for roughly three months, but was right back in the same area and crowds. I was sober for about another two months, but unfortunately, I relapsed a few days before going to IQA.
The seed was planted though, and even though it took two more stints in rehab, I was able to make my way back to the school and the rooms of alcoholics/narcotics anonymous and became willing to hear the words of others like me. It's hard to get sober without people around me with the same mindset, especially now, during Covid, when we are all so isolated; so to get to be in touch with my sober community through Bridges and the school and know that I have peers and adults who are there for me and are doing the work of maintaining sobriety is really important. I am grateful for the opportunity and that I get to be a part of the community and help others and receive help and grow and see others grow alongside me - and really thankful for a full year sober!
Bade
Hear Bade’s story on 89.5’s Coping 101 series from their time of deep addiction to their journey of recovery through Bridges. This podcast will help answer any questions you may have about what Bridges is and why it works!
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In the spring of 2019, I felt completely out of control and hopeless. I had given up my home with my parents, my relationship with my family, my true friends, and my dignity, all for favor of drugs. I was struggling with delusions in a drug induced episode of mania. I was prostituting myself on the side. I was getting high to run away from my feelings. Luckily, I got arrested and agreed to go to treatment in Utah. Within my first month, I had a clear enough head to where I could realize I wanted to be sober. I called my parents the same day, and read a letter I had written about how I wanted my life to be different. I was ready to recognize myself as a full on drug addict. In treatment, I attended NA once a week, which was nice, but not enough to get me invested into the world of twelve step programs quite yet. I stayed in Utah for 14 months, until finally I was ready to go back home and live with my parents again in Seattle. Waiting for me in Seattle were the weekly Bridges meetings, where I created a community for myself. I became friends with nearly every other addict/alcoholic attending the meetings. I found my sponsor in those meetings. I continue to attend Bridges, and it’s the highlight of my week. I’m able to get in touch socially, and share my feelings and sobriety with other like minded folks who care. I’ve been sober since June 18th, 2019.
Anna
We sent our nonbinary kiddo to Utah for residential treatment after six years of suicide attempts, self-harm, runaway episodes and substance abuse—which culminated in a rape and arrest at gunpoint in our home. We made the decision less from hope that something could change and more with the thought that, if our child did end up dying, at least we would know we hadn’t left a stone unturned in trying to change that trajectory.
It was a decision that sparked what felt and still often feels like a miracle: within weeks, our teen was no longer suicidal and committed to sobriety. The path from there wasn’t always smooth but they made steady, positive progress and, after 15 months in Utah, returned home in August 2020.
While thrilled at the idea of living as a family again, we were also incredibly anxious about supporting our kiddo’s sobriety outside of residential treatment. We had no idea how to help them build a sober community of friends back at home. So, when we learned about IQA and Bridges, we truly couldn’t believe our good fortune. Our teen literally cried with joy upon learning they could return home to a ready-made sober peer group (and we just about did as well). Little did we know that the peer group would also be accompanied by incredible support from other parents who had walked similarly terrifying, isolating paths; who understood what we’d been through and the challenges we faced; and were just as committed to the recovery of their own amazing kids.
We are beyond grateful for the kindness, understanding and support of this amazing community—for our kiddo and for ourselves.
Mark
My name is Mark Flannagan and the Bridges Seattle Alternative Peer Group really helped me during my path to recovery. I was new to Interagency Queen Anne and got involved with Bridges in the fall of 2019. It was a relief being in the presence of people who also wanted help like I did. I feel that I wouldn’t have been able to maintain sobriety if not for the afterschool meetups with the other students and the teachers and staff who made me feel so welcome. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic happened and we weren’t able to meet in person anymore. This was really especially difficult for me as someone in the early stages of sobriety at that time. The activities and services provided by the group made it easier to cope as we attended some pretty cool field trips, started to safely meet up on Wednesday’s in person again and got connected through sharing some deep conversations. It was really helpful getting to connect with new students and have a safe space I could share how I was feeling and get that support I don't think I'd be able to get anywhere else. On October 15, 2020 I celebrated my first year of sobriety and I know I couldn’t have done without the support from my peers in Bridges.
Becca
I think I must have visited my kid's school every day, and every community-based organization; hit up every contact I had that worked with youth, and phoned my son's counselor at least three times a week. There just didn't seem to be any answers to help with addiction in youth. After countless calls to the police to help find my son when he'd run away; an ER visit after he'd been assaulted while using; many painful, and ultimately fruitless family meetings; three separate rehab centers (one all the way in California) and half my retirement savings later, we had come to an impasse. There just didn't seem to be a formula for getting and keeping my kid clean. Our family had been torn apart by the hurricane that is addiction and the heartbreak, anger, fear, and sadness seemed like a permanent part of our family. That's why finding IQA and Bridges Seattle group was a miracle. This was the missing piece to the puzzle, because having the community- the peers, mentors, resources, and space in which to build a solid foundation- was what was missing. Going from rehab back into the old ways and peers just didn't work. What did work was having a network of like-minded kids (and adults that get it). As a parent, IQA is invaluable, and Bridges Seattle takes it a step further, building up families, and connecting our youth through resources, care, and experiences that cement the idea that life in sobriety is not only doable, but is beautiful.