Path To Recovery

The Path To Recovery includes true stories of consumers who overcame many obstacles with the help of Horizon Health Services to turn their lives around. Last names have been omitted for privacy. Click here for additional Path To Recovery stories.

Raquel's Story

Raquel came to Horizon a little more than a year ago. In her mid-30s, she was alcohol, opiate and cocaine dependent, suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and had hearing problems from being punched in the ear by an abusive male friend. Raquel had worked as a stripper and had been arrested for assault.

As a child of alcoholic parents, Raquel had been repeatedly abused during her childhood. She cared for both her parents until their deaths, then took care of herself as she moved from friends’ homes to foster homes and endured several abusive relationships with men.

Raquel saw firsthand the effects of her parents’ addictions and wanted a better life for herself. She managed to complete high school and the necessary training to become a dental assistant, but her past continued to interfere with her future. She’s held several jobs, but also had two near-death overdoses before she was finally able to find help.

“When Raquel first came to Horizon, she handed me the journal she’d been keeping,” says Ramona Lee, Raquel’s counselor at Horizon’s Bailey Lasalle facility. “It took me several weeks to read it; I couldn’t believe everything she’d been through.”

“I am really glad I was able to get into rehab at Horizon,” says Raquel. “Recovery has been good for me, it’s changed my outlook.”

Raquel has been sober for more than a year now, and credits Horizon with helping her to achieve this milestone. She says Horizon has helped her stay grounded and to understand she can’t do this on her own, that she has to ask for help when she needs it.

“I have gotten so much good, positive input from Horizon,” says Raquel. “Everyone here has been very nice to me and very helpful, especially Ramona.”

Ramona says Raquel has come a long way and has been doing great. “She’s worked at improving her relationship with her brother and sister and at
re-establishing her support network. And she willingly speaks to other addicts on the benefits of recovery, which has helped improve her communication skills greatly. Raquel is always willing to help others, and is very much looking forward to a new life.”

That new life includes a new apartment and attending college this summer.
Says Raquel, “I feel as though the sky’s the limit for me now. I feel that I can achieve more than ever before.”