Donate

Client Success Story: Johnna

“I’m just a normal person living my life, not an addict struggling with sobriety.”

Johnna grew up in Tennessee and got involved with substance use after an injury. She was in and out of jail for about 6 years and then her grandparents offered to move her to Tucson to get help. While in Tucson, Johnna went to different substance use treatment facilities until she found The Haven. She says the difference to the other places was remarkable. According to Johnna, The Haven was the first place that didn’t feel like a hospital where she was treated like a junkie. At The Haven, there was sunshine and outdoor space, and she was treated like a person.

Johnna says that she didn’t really have any structure growing up. She appreciated the structure she was given at The Haven and the clear expectations of how you had to wake up, eat, do chores, and participate in programming.

Johnna loved the holistic experience at The Haven. She wasn’t a part of the Native Ways Program, but enjoyed the spirituality and the different activities she participated in, like making rainsticks with Tony Redhouse. She also enjoyed acudetox with Nati. Having staff members who had lived experience with substance use made Johnna feel like getting sober is doable. She thought if she couldn’t get a job anywhere else, she could always come to work at The Haven.

Johnna cherished the times when clients came back to The Haven and shared their stories with the current clients. At AA meetings in the community, she felt hopeless when people said that they had been sober for 30 days or 60 days and wondered how she’d ever get that far. But when former clients told how long they have been sober, she really felt a connection with them and believed there was hope for her as well. Johnna says it was wonderful to see the former clients being celebrated for their achievements when they were lifted in the air and people sang to them. When Johnna saw that she knew she wanted to be one of them.

After completing the Residential Program, Johnna went to the Intensive Outpatient Program and lived in Recovery Housing. Her therapist pushed her to get a good job and staff also helped her to get Section 8 housing fast. Johnna lived in the place she got through Section 8 for 3 years and that stability helped her moving forward with her life.

In 2019, Johnna met her boyfriend and moved to Phoenix. They now have two small children; the older one is 2.5 and the younger one is just over 1. Johnna received medication-assisted treatment when she had her children, and as a result she had to deal with a lot of judgement from her hospital. She found a Phoenix-based organization that helped her to advocate for herself, but the experience was still hurtful.

Johnna loves the fact that pregnant women and mothers with children can come to The Haven and are provided extra support. She says the place felt like a small community where staff really care about you and want you to succeed. And when you leave, you don’t get kicked out, but rather the staff helps you with housing and employment and can connect you with other services.

Johnna says it’s easy to feel like there is no hope, but you can come through to the other side. Somebody once told her that if recovery isn’t for you, then the streets and drugs will always be there for you. That really stuck with her and helped her see there’s people out there who want to help you and want to see you succeed.

Johnna has been sober for 7 years and is looking forward to coming to The Haven someday to share her story with the current clients.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print

Recent Posts:

CARF accredited logo

Residential

Outpatient

Tax information

  • Tax ID #23-7112026
  • Arizona Tax Credit QCO Code 20590

Pages

Sign Up for Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Skip to content