Michelle’s Journey to Wellness
Shortly before the COVID pandemic began, Michelle’s mom, who was her best friend and biggest supporter, passed away.
Though Michelle had previously developed skills to manage her substance use disorder, the trauma of losing her mother led her back into active substance use. During this time, she also experienced domestic violence, and lost her family, housing, vehicle, and pets. After some time, she entered inpatient treatment in Lacey, Wash.
Upon completing inpatient treatment, Michelle joined Lifeline Connections’ outpatient program. Throughout her outpatient treatment journey, housing remained out of reach, even with a housing voucher. Michelle spent a week in a motel, couch-surfed, and then lived in a tent. During the 3 months she spent in the rain-soaked tent, Michelle experienced her lowest point of despair regarding her housing.
Supportive Recovery Matters
Lifeline Connections’ Supportive Housing Team was able to connect with Michelle while she was living in her tent. Together, they worked for 5 months to secure permanent housing, which she now shares with her sponsor at Fourth Plain Commons.
Michelle is thankful for the community and grateful for the stable housing she now has, thanks to the Lifeline Connections team.
She shares: “Fourth Plain Commons is great! The friends I’ve made support me in my 17 months of sobriety. Additionally, Fourth Plain Commons offers a wide variety of group meetings, classes, social activities and potlucks, which make me feel like I am part of a community.”
Michelle aims to use her medical assistant certificate to one day work at Lifeline Connections. For now, she is thankful for the help she has received and is very happy to have her cat, Tinkerbell, living with her again.
