If someone had told me that I would be able to get my mental health and addiction struggles handled AND that I would have found a job because I was able to overcome those struggles, I probably would have had them get checked for a concussion.  Not only have I been in active recovery for over a decade, in 2015 I was fortunate to stumble into a new career working as a peer provider. To have such a unique opportunity to show up to work authentically imperfect and open about the challenges I’ve faced, is truly a weird and amazing thing to be able to do. It fills my cup. 

From being part of the first wave of peer professionals integrated in Colorado’s state mental health institutes, to working to create the peer role in a crisis program that worked primarily with the homeless population in Denver, to being a community-based peer provider, three things have always been painfully apparent to me: We need more peer professionals. We need better trained peer professionals. We need to better educate the community at large about how to ethically implement peer programing. A large part of why I chose to join the AFRC community is because they are working diligently to do all three of those things and they are working to do it on a scale that Colorado has never seen before. I am so grateful to be part of such a forward-looking organization. 

Here in the AFRC community, in my recovery and working in this field, I have crossed paths with some utterly amazing people and have been part of some unique and invaluable programs. It’s my role as father and grandfather that I am most proud of. I would have missed out on all that had it not been for the patience and support of more people than I can count. My life has gone on much longer and is so much better than I ever dreamt it could be, and I believe that the best is yet to come.