On Thursday, February 19, six of Turning Point?s Phase I residents and two support staff members loaded up the Suburbans and headed off to go snowmobiling at Mount Snow in Vermont. The concept was suggested by Phase I resident Brett L. and planned and set up by Recreation Coordinator Casey Olayos and Phase I Director John Stewart. ?It was an unbelievable time,? says Casey. ?We were going 65 miles an hour at some points and we ended up riding for four straight hours! We had a guide take us through trails and everyone just had a blast.?

Brett L., the Phase I resident (and avid sportsman) who came up with the idea, had a great time. ?My favorite part was when we got to this frozen reservoir and we really got to pick the speed up,? explains Brett. ?It brought us close together because we really had to put our trust in everyone else because we were riding in a single file line at high speeds.?

Phase I resident Dan D. also had an exciting experience at Mount Snow. ?It was the most fun I?ve ever had sober,? says Dan. ?It was a healthy rush. It reinforced that I could have fun sober.?

At Turning Point, recreational activities play a major part of the Preparative Care program. It is imperative that young men in early sobriety realize that it is possible to have fun without the use of drugs or alcohol. Activities such as snowmobiling also give residents the chance to bond with one another, and with staff members, while gaining new life experiences.

Next month, Casey Olayos has organized more go-cart trips, trampoline park visits, and paintballing, as well a visit to Webster Bank Arena for a monster truck show.

JJ B. is a resident currently in Phase III of Turning Point?s Preparative Care program.

After failing out of college and almost destroying himself mentally and physically through the use of alcohol and drugs, JJ found the Turning Point program and has worked feverishly to build a foundation in sobriety and find a purpose in his life.

JJ began drinking alcohol at the age of 14. From his very first drink, JJ felt like he had found his solution. He quickly found himself drinking or smoking marijuana on a daily basis and his new life, immersed in the drinking and drugging culture, became his identity. ?I always felt different,? explains JJ. ?But regardless of how good of friends I had, I always felt like I had one foot outside of the circle? It was being the guy always smoking [marijuana] and having it that made me feel a part of.? JJ?s substance abuse continued to escalate through high school and into college. In 2007, he left home for Colorado State in the hopes that the region?s acceptance of marijuana use would provide a welcoming culture for his way of life.

Like with many young addicts, the newfound freedom of college provided the opportunity for JJ?s addiction to rapidly progress. In his sophomore year, JJ moved off-campus and began drinking more than he ever had. The alcoholic symptoms of manipulation and dishonesty manifested. He was asked to leave the university in 2009. By this time, JJ had developed a progressed physical addiction to alcohol. ?I would wake up in the morning shaking,? confesses JJ. ?I justified it in my head, but I couldn?t even write my own name because my hands were shaking so bad. I had to drink at the beginning of each day just to function.?

He continued on that path and worked odd jobs and part-time jobs for the next several years, manipulating his parents and brother into thinking that everything was okay. By the end of 2013, JJ had reached rock bottom. ?I had no job and spent all day in my basement drinking to the point where I was basically agoraphobic,? says JJ. ?The only time I left my basement was to get more booze or cigarettes ... I was drinking to accept the fact that I was an alcoholic.? JJ had dwindled down to 120 pounds and had difficulty holding down food. ?I was a shell of my former self,? he admits.

In February of 2014, JJ?s mother came out to visit him in Colorado, and instead of going through the usual routine of cleaning himself up before her visit, JJ decided to show her what he had become. ?She immediately knew something was wrong,? says JJ. ?I was dying in front of her eyes.? Around the same time, JJ?s brother confessed to his mother that he believed JJ?s drinking had become debilitating. JJ?s mother confronted him about his drinking and gave him the option of going to treatment. ?As soon as she gave me the chance to do something, I had to take it because I knew I was going to die, and I didn?t want to die,? JJ insists.

JJ entered detox and then a 30-day treatment center near his home in Maryland. He had his doubts about a life of sobriety, but he listened to counselors and slowly began to accept the fact that he was an addict. Towards the end of his stay in primary treatment, he began looking into aftercare, and a brochure for Turning Point stuck out to him. ?I felt that a sober house was not enough for me,? says JJ. ?I was pretty thoroughly beaten to the point where I was willing to sacrifice a year of my life to have a chance to get it right the first time.? On March 19, 2014, JJ came to New Haven and enrolled in Phase I of Turning Point. Since his arrival, JJ has done an enormous amount of work building a foundation in recovery for his future. ?I wouldn?t have had the opportunities to work on myself without Turning Point,? says JJ. ?I think AA saved my life, and Turning Point gave me a solid introduction to AA.?

In July, JJ began working as a member of Turning Point?s Support Staff. ?This is the best job I?ve had by leaps and bounds,? declares JJ. ?Every day I get to come in and do my best to try and help people.?

JJ is currently scheduled to graduate from Turning Point in April. He plans to stay in New Haven and move into an apartment with a few sober friends.

John K. successfully completed the Turning Point program, and graduated on Thursday, February 19.

In his last few years before coming to New Haven, John?s life was a tangled web of jails, institutions, and near death experiences, but he has since made a decision to embrace recovery and commit himself to a life in sobriety.

John began drinking alcohol in 7th grade. A devoted and talented athlete, John did not initially allow drugs or alcohol to get in the way of sports. In 10th grade, a sports injury gave him a significant amount of free time and his drug use quickly escalated. He started experimenting with different substances and surrounding himself with people who were doing the same. Athletics soon became less important. He continued to excel on the field, but off the field his addiction was festering and his drug use was becoming more and more frequent. In 12th grade, John was introduced to opiates. ?It started with a couple of the guys on the team doing it,? explains John. ?Before I knew, by the end of the season I was addicted. I was doing it in the bathrooms and I was going through withdrawals.?

John began lying and stealing from his parents to pay for drugs. He was developing a severe addiction to opiates, but was able to keep up appearances. ?As long as I had good grades, my parents were oblivious to everything else,? John says. ?On the outside everything was good, but inside I was really crying for help.? Despite his substance abuse, John was still able to perform athletically and after high school he committed to play baseball at Towson University. By the time he arrived at Towson, drugs and alcohol had become much more important than sports, and John decided to quit the baseball team after only a few weeks. The opiate use continued to progress and he began selling drugs to support his habit.

In March of 2010, after withdrawal symptoms became unbearable, John confronted his parents about his addiction. He was sent to treatment in Albany, New York, but left after only nine days. John relapsed the day after he got home, and picked up right where he left off. He went back to Towson and manipulated his way through an outpatient program that his parents insisted he attend. Toward the end of 2011, John began using heroin.

In 2012, John?s legal troubles began. He was assigned to drug court because of selling prescription painkillers and the next few years John repeatedly violated the conditions of the drug court program. He was given multiple chances, but he continued to use. ?They would send me to jail, then they would send me to rehab, jail, then rehab, jail, then rehab? admits John. ?I just kept violating.?

On January 9, 2014, while on a last chance contract with court, John used heroin once again after a period of sobriety. ?The next thing I knew I woke up with the paramedics over me,? says John. ?My parents and sisters were standing over me as the paramedics brought me back to life.? On an instinct, his mother and father had broken down the door to his room and found John having an overdose. ?Seeing the look on my parents faces that night broke my heart into a million pieces,? confesses John.

John went to straight from the hospital to jail the next day. After spending two months in jail, John was given the opportunity to go to treatment and on March 1, 2014 he enrolled at Turning Point. He spent his first few weeks in the program ?faking it to make it?, but eventually things began to sink in. He developed close relationships with a few other residents and began finding comfort in his own skin. ?I started feeling like a normal human being,? says John. ?Going out to community service and helping others made me feel better about myself. It slowly built my confidence and made me realize that I can be sober and have fun.?

In Phase III, John was recognized for his hard work and given a job as a Turning Point House Manager. He spent his time in Phase III strengthening his sober network and creating a solid foundation for a life in recovery. He is currently taking a few courses at Southern Connecticut State University and this week will begin working at Turning Point as a member of the Support Staff. ?I want to stay connected with Turning Point because I believe in what they do,? says John.