RICHARD'S STORY
ADDICTION TO ADVOCATE
| "The silence was deafening. I would cry myself to sleep. I knew I needed to get clean and I didn't know how."
May 17, 2022.
Richard was living in a 27-foot travel trailer with his wife and young son. No running water. He hauled his own water and heated it on a burner.That day, police pulled into his driveway and removed his son from his custody.He watched his boy leave in a police car, asking why he couldn’t be with his mom and dad.
Then Richard went back inside and used.Because that was how he dealt with his problems.
No job. No phone. No car. Court dates, family team decision meetings, outpatient therapy, a 12-step program. It took four and a half months to decide he was going to do the right thing for his child. His clean date is September 24, 2022.
If I would have tried to guess that talking to Bill in a Parents for Parents class was going to lead me to housing, to a sponsor, to a program that would save my life, I would have never been able to predict that.
During his dependency case, Richard was struggling to find housing. He reached out to a man named Bill Jones for help. Bill pointed him toward Oxford House, a clean and sober living community. Through that connection, Richard started going to meetings regularly, asked Bill to be his 12-step sponsor, and discovered that Bill was also running Parents for Parents in Grays Harbor County.
One step at a time, Richard built a life.
He enrolled in college studying to become a substance use disorder counselor. He got a part-time job at the YMCA. He got his driver’s license back. He bought a car. His family got housing.
Within two weeks of moving into Oxford housing, he and his wife got their son back on a trial return home.
Six months later, their case was dismissed.
The Timeline
THANKSGIVING 2021
-
A woman at a laundromat in Montesano gave Richard a plate of food. He shared it with his wife and son. That was their Thanksgiving.
MAY 17, 2022
-
His son was removed from his custody.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2022
-
Richard’s clean date.
November 3, 2022
-
He and his wife moved into Oxford clean and sober housing
NOVEMBER 17, 2022
-
His son came home on a trial return. Six months later, their case was dismissed.
TODAY
-
Richard now leads Parents for Parents in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties. He is in court every Wednesday. He rebuilt his relationship with his mother. His family now lives in a four-bedroom home. This year, 35 people showed up for his birthday.
85%
Reunification rate for families in the program Richard now leads
~400
Children in foster care in Grays Harbor County right now
When Bill offered Richard the position to lead Parents for Parents, he took it.
Today, he walks into that courtroom every Wednesday because he knows better than anyone what it means to have someone in your corner who has been there.