When she pulled into the parking lot of BrightView in the middle of the night, she was desperate.
“I slept in my car right outside the building. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t risk relapsing. I had to get help—right now.”
Her name has been withheld for privacy, but her journey speaks for so many—women caught in the crossfire of addiction, abuse, and survival.
“My Addiction Started with a Surgery—And a Lie”
Watch: She Survived Trauma and Addiction — Olivia Found Hope at BrightView
Her spiral began after surgery, when her prescribed pain medication was stolen.
“My mom took my meds, and I had to start buying on the street,” she says. Her then-boyfriend, a drug dealer, sold to her mom—who then gave the drugs back to her. “It was a cycle.”
Third-shift work in a factory made things worse. She used pills to get through the night. When they ran out, she turned to cocaine—sometimes staying awake for four days straight.
“I was paranoid, hiding in a corner, unable to drive. And my mom was still asking me to go get her drugs,” she says. “I just remember thinking: What am I doing? I have kids. I can’t live like this.”
“I Saw a BrightView Commercial—and It Saved My Life”
By chance, she saw an ad for BrightView on TV and immediately searched for the number.
“I told myself I had to get in there ASAP. I didn’t want to wait like I had to at the last place. That time, I relapsed. I couldn’t go through that again.”
She called and got an appointment the very next morning.
“I cried the whole night in my car. I didn’t know if I’d make it through the night without using. But when I walked in, the first thing they said was, ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’”
She remembers Kim, the first staff member she met. “She made me feel safe. Everyone was so gentle. I was bawling and terrified, and they just kept saying, ‘You’re not alone.’”
“I Made That Call from an Abuser’s House”
Her addiction wasn’t her only battle. She had also been in an abusive relationship for years.
“He beat me all the time. I was his punching bag,” she says. “I actually made the call to BrightView while I was still at his house.”
She remembers the intake call vividly. “I was crying, black and blue, and the woman on the phone asked me, ‘Do you need somewhere safe?’ I’ll never forget how kind she was.”
“Now I’m the Better Version of Myself”
Today, she’s clean. She’s safe. She’s home.
“I think back to how broken I was. And now I look at myself and go, Damn. You had the worst version of me, but now I’m my best.”
Her motivation has never wavered: her kids.
“If they ever see this down the road, I want them to know: I’m clean. And I’m going to be there for them.”