“Palmetto, I guess, would mean to me something that you would—home, I guess, is the word that keeps coming into my mind. I’ve visited several treatment centers in my journey to try to get sober, and it was the first treatment center I ever came to and it was the last one. Of all those things, I came here and this is where I felt like when I walked in here these people were not only telling me things to do but they were doing it themselves, and it made it real easy for them to hold me accountable and do what they said, asked me to do. And not only that, I was able to follow in their footsteps, and they showed me the way to do the things that they were asking me to do. I struggled with drugs and alcohol. I had a long polysubstance abuse history from the time I was fifteen, maybe even earlier than that, and over the years—I mean I was a nurse and that brought me to treatment. It brought me here, but I went on and struggled even after I lost my nursing license for such a long time. And when I finally got here I felt home. Once I got out of treatment I began working here as a janitor and worked my way up, and being able to interact with the staff on a more professional basis I got to see some things that they not only were showing that to the patients, they were showing that amongst themselves. And since then I’ve worked at other treatment centers, and I think that’s what’s missing there, especially after seeing what went on here. And what a privilege to have been a part of something like that. This place saved my life. They gave me a chance when I needed one.”
