Ashley, a current active member of the CVARR Coalition, was recently highlighted in local news article on her successes with recovery and her journey through drug court. Ashley currently works as a Peer Recovery Specialist for the organization Blue Ridge Behavioral Health and has been a vital player in our coalition and in the recovery workgroup.
In February 2019, Ashley lost custody of her son as a result of substance abuse and he was sent to live with his grandmother. Ashley was granted supervised visits but could only have full custody once she was able to get sober. For 3 months, Ashley continued to use and abuse different substances until finally she realized that she was not going to regain custody of her son or life unless she could commit to sober living. Ashley committed to sobriety and signed up to become part of a local drug treatment court program to help her regain control of her life.
With the intensive setting drug court gave her, Ashley was able to work to move into recovery from substance abuse. Ashley credits her recovery to both drug court and peer support which in turn has guided her towards her career choice with for Blue Ridge Behavioral Health. Ashley has taken her experiences and now uses her life story to inspire and assist others in their own personal journeys to recovery. Ashley has come to CVARR and has provided us with a wealth of understanding of experiences as well as a resource of knowledge of the community. We are so thankful for Ashley and her continued support and commitment to CVARR, we are lucky to call her a part of our team.
Please find link below for full article on Ashley’s Story and her journey to regain custody of her son and control of her life.