It took Vincent Douglas a near-death experience to reevaluate his life and while that event would rock most of us into a self-assessment mode, for Douglas it required a life or death decision: did he want to die as a heroin addict or work toward a life of recovery.
The Spy caught up with the 28-year-old at the A.F. Whitsitt Center’s Recovery in Motion (RIM) 18 months after making his decision to live and talked with us about his pathway to a new life and his dedication as a peer counselor to carry a message of hope to others suffering from addiction.
Reflecting on his past, Douglas says, “I didn’t sign up for the lifestyle I lived. It happened and now I use that as a tool to help others. When I came here, I had nothing, I was nothing, so I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
As a peer counselor at RIM, his experience as an addict paired with his own recovery program opens the door for communicating with those suffering from the disease of addiction. Speaking a common language is the centerpiece of establishing trust in a peer recovery environment.
Recovery in Motion (RIM) “Offers a wide range of services that provide our community with the tools to increase their well-being. Support includes individual & group counseling, behavioral health education/prevention, peer support and care coordination to assist persons in recovery with behavior and addiction issues.”
This video is approximately 7 minutes in length. More about A.F. Whitsitt Center in Kent County may be found here.
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