It Gets Better

The path to addiction recovery is literally a fight for your life, one that Sue Harrison's brother, King, lost in 2016. In their journey of grief, she co-founded King's Crusade, a non-profit focused on eliminating the stigma that shrouds the disease of addiction. King's Crusade provides family support and resources for people on the path to sobriety, including assistance in detox placement, transportation to treatment, and helping to defray the costs.Across America, nearly 200 people die every day from opioid abuse. Four-in-five opioid addicts, including King, started with an injury and prescription for OxyContin that unravels their life. On average, a sober living move-in fee costs $500-600, and a ride to treatment can cost up to $150, making the decision to get clean impossible for those who need it the most. Donations to King's Crusade are distributed on a first-need basis, and Sue also works with families to identify public funding to cover treatment. With efforts like hers, its gets better for addicts and their families.Contact Information for Kings Crusade:Website: https://www.kingscrusade.org/Phone: 856-874-4444Email: info@kingscrusade.org

Meet Matt Ganem, the CEO of Aftermath Addiction Treatment, and the person on the other end of the phone when It Gets Better podcast's Rob Demeo started his road to recovery. Growing up in Somerville, Mass., Ganem had a tough upbringing and was on the streets by age 16. Always seeking validation from others, an early love for athletics turned to partying and selling drugs in high school.Run-ins with law enforcement did little to curb his habits, which spiraled into daily suicide attempts. By 21, he was hustling enough each day to get high again each night. Finally finding the right combination of recovery and support, Ganem rediscovered a passion for poetry in the halfway house. Gaining the acceptance he needed, these poems eventually led to a book, recovery advocacy, and a platform to spread the word of recovery. Hear his story, the work being done by Aftermath Addiction Treatment, and how it gets better.Find out more: Website: http://aftermathtreatmentcenter.com Call: (781) 587-3636Email: mganem@aftermathtc.com

Chris Therien, affectionately known as Bundy, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 12 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars. He was the lead analyst for Flyers Pregame Live and Flyers Postgame Live on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Prior to the 2018-19 NHL season he was a color commentator inside the glass for theFlyers on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He was also previously the Flyers' radio color commentator on 97.5 The Fanatic.Limitless Recover Centers in Fishtown, PA: https://limitlessrecoverycenters.com/ or call: 215-309-5844

Meet Maureen Cavanaugh, an educator, recovery coach, public speaker, founder of Magnolia New Beginnings and the author of “If You Love Me: A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Opioid Addiction.” Living through the nightmare of her daughter's addiction, Cavanaugh made it her life's work to inspire parents and families of those struggling with addiction to become advocates on their behalf.Her story in the addiction recovery world began after learning of her daughter's struggles. Knowing that she could not fix the problem but needing to do something positive, Cavanaugh channeled her energy into advocacy. What started as a 50-person support group in Massachusetts has grown into nearly 30,000 people, nationwide, with her work featured in the New York Times and on CNN. Rather than following some of the “conventional wisdom” to isolate addicts and cut off their resources, Cavanaugh preaches a philosophy of healthy boundaries and support. As Cavanaugh has seen many times over, it gets better.Find out more about Magnolia New Beginnings at 617-291-3266, email: info@magnolianewbeginnings.org or go to: http://www.magnolianewbeginnings.org/ for more information.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

Despite what he described as “a good upbringing” in a hockey family, Todd Fedoruk loved two things: fighting and his next high. Always looking for a rush, Fedoruk's addiction spiraled out of control at the same time that his professional star was rising in the NHL. Tasked as an enforcer on the ice, Fedoruk knew that he liked to party off the ice, but didn't even realize he had a problem until one day when he broke down during practice.Fedoruk didn't take his situation seriously until a doctor told him that, without intervention, his addiction could kill him in a matter of months. Sent to rehab for 28 days and demoted to the depths of the minor leagues, Fedoruk found a winding path to success and sobriety through multiple relapses and recoveries. With a job that took him all over the country, Fedoruk learned how important a strong network of support can be, and that with constant vigilance, it gets better. Find out more about New Life Addiction Services at (856) 942-3700 or go to: https://newlifecenters.com/ for more information.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

Meet Lovern Gordon, founder of the Love Life Now Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to improving the lives of victims and survivors of domestic violence. First introduced to “It Gets Better” podcast's Rob Demeo after the murder of his mother, Gordon takes listeners on a journey through her journey with domestic violence.Gordon grew up on the island of Trinidad and experienced her father inflicting horrific violence against her mother, as well as her and her siblings. Determined to never fall victim again, Gordon migrated to the United States and set herself up for success. It wasn't until she had an abusive relationship of her own that she learned that torment has nothing to do with weakness or fault on the part of the victim.Many addicts grow up experiencing domestic violence. Within reported cases, one-in-four women will experience abuse, as well as one-in-seven men. Through organizations like Gordon's, it gets better. Find out how to help Lovern and the Love Life Now Foundation: https://lovelifenow.org/ or call (888) LLN-9876.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

This is the episode where we learn the backstory of featured guest Rob Lutman, who is an outreach coordinator at Sunrise Detox. Lutman has had an ongoing relationship with addiction throughout his life, even learning how to walk in prison, while visiting his father, who was serving time as a heroin user.Raised by his mother in a tough part of Camden, NJ, Lutman masked his adolescent insecurities with street drugs and alcohol. Despite his father's example about the pitfalls of opiates, Lutman was hooked the first time he tried Percocets. Life took Lutman through periods of using and dry spells, but a layoff from his job caused him to tumble hard into relapse. Pills turned to sniffing heroin, sniffing turned to shooting heroin in his arm, which led to a traffic accident that changed his life. He's been clean for 4.5 years now, proof that it gets better.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

Meet Ira Levy, a self-professed dope fiend from New York City, who was on his own and addicted to heroin by the age of 14. Now, the owner of a range of addiction recovery centers and services, Levy once had a reputation for peddling Quaaludes through the famed Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan in the 1970s.At different times through the years, Levy was addicted to heroin, alcohol, pills or anything else he could get ahold of. Aware enough to recognize that he had a problem, it took Levy years to recognize that there was no safe substance or amount that he could use. It was a fear of prison that finally caused him to get serious on his sixth trip through recovery.Clean since 1980, Levy has used his experience with addiction to open Sunrise Detox Centers and inspire the next generation of addicts, like the Robs, to find recovery and help others.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

In this episode, we dive into the origin story of featured guest Rob Demeo, who is an outreach coordinator at Sunrise Detox. Demeo suffered early childhood abuse, which led to years of recreational use and addiction to a wide range of prescription drugs, hard drugs, and alcohol.Raised in Sommerville, MA, Demeo was raised by his mentally-ill mother after they left his abusive, alcoholic father. Falling in with an older crowd, Demeo found drugs and alcohol as an escape from his reality. Even through dry times when he wasn't using, Demeo never had a program or set of values that would allow him to commit to recovery. After a 2010 car accident that nearly cost him his hand, Demeo got hooked on pain medication that quickly led to addiction, street drugs, and his first attempts at recovery. Eleven years later, his incredible story is proof that it gets better.Remember that help is ALWAYS available 24/7 with our partners at Sunrise Detox Center. Simply call our Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080.

Meet Rob Lutman and Rob Demeo, both outreach coordinators at Sunrise Detox, and two of the tens of millions of Americans who have lived with the scourge of addiction. As we kick off the “It Gets Better” podcast, we'll take a raw look at their lives, the struggles that led them down a dark path, and the help they received that put them on the road to long-term sobriety. Demeo found his own sobriety from drug abuse in 2015. He has worked in many positions in substance abuse treatment, finding the most rewarding to be advocacy for those in active addiction and alcoholism. Lutman, left his union job in 2012 to work in substance abuse treatment. After seeing too many of his friends and family struggle with alcoholism and addiction, he dedicated his career to helping anyone who is struggling with alcoholism and addiction begin their first step in recovery. Remember, help is always available 24/7! Call the Recovery Hotline at (855) 900-0080