Awaken Recovery

05/20/2026

My name is Sarah V.W., and I’m a 53-year-old woman in recovery who has just started my journey into becoming the woman I’m meant to be.

For most of my life, I didn’t know how to deal with pain. I experienced more as a child than anyone should ever have to endure, and by the time I was young, I had already learned how to survive by emotionally checking out. Alcohol and substances became the way I escaped what I didn’t know how to process.

Looking back now, I can see that I wasn’t truly trying to destroy myself. I was trying to bury pain that was never mine to carry in the first place.

There were periods throughout my life where I found sobriety. I got married. I had children. I tried to build a stable life. But addiction always seemed to find its way back to me.

Then in 2007, everything changed in the best possible way.

I met the love of my life.

For the first time, I felt truly safe, loved, and understood. We built a life together, and in 2014, I became a grandmother, which brought me more joy than I could ever explain.

But just nine days before my birthday in 2015, I woke up beside my husband and realized he had passed away in his sleep.

That moment broke me in ways I still struggle to describe.

April used to be my favorite month of the year. Now it carries memories that changed the course of my life forever.

I didn’t know how to cope with losing him. I didn’t go to therapy. I didn’t talk about the pain. Instead, I buried myself in alcohol and substances because I couldn’t bear the weight of my grief. I wanted to outrun the emptiness I felt after losing the person I loved most.

At the same time, I had gained custody of my infant grandson and was trying to hold everything together.

From the outside, I probably looked functional. The bills were paid. There was food in the house. My grandson had what he needed. I kept telling myself I was managing. I kept telling myself I was okay. This kept on for 7 years.

But functioning addiction is dangerous like that.

You convince yourself there isn’t really a problem because life hasn’t completely fallen apart yet.

Until one day it does.

And by the time you realize how bad things really are, you’ve already lost everything around you.

Including yourself.

I lost everyone and everything.

That was the moment I finally understood that surviving is not the same thing as living.

I had reached a place so dark that I no longer wanted to keep going.

And in the middle of all of that pain, I scared the people I loved most, including my grandson.

Looking back now, that was the breaking point that forced me to finally see how much my addiction was destroying not only my life, but the lives of the people around me.

After being released from the hospital, I knew something had to change. I decided to get sober. Not because everything was suddenly okay, but because deep down, I knew I couldn’t keep living the way I had been living. I was truly ready and willing to do whatever it took.

I got sober without going to rehab. Later, I was admitted into a recovery program called Breaking Chains, but I ended up being asked to leave in the middle of winter.

At the time, it felt devastating.

But looking back now, I believe it happened the way it was supposed to.

Because if I had not been asked to leave, I never would have found Awaken Recovery Foundation.

And finding Awaken has changed my life.

I came into this program needing help with everything. I needed shelter. I needed structure. I needed support. I needed people who could help me learn how to live again.

And little by little, that is what I was given.

Awaken helped me stay sober. They helped me learn how to budget my money, get to work, make it to appointments, attend meetings, take care of myself, and start showing up for my life in a way I never had before.

They offered classes, meetings, transportation, and access to the tools I needed to rebuild.

But more than anything, they gave me a community.

A place to belong.

A second family.

For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t feel alone anymore.

Little by little, I started to become someone I could recognize again.

Today, I am 18 months sober.

I have kept the same job for two years, which is something I am incredibly proud of. I have started peer support classes, and I now sponsor other women in recovery.

Recovery has become something I am deeply passionate about because I know what it feels like to need someone to believe in you before you can believe in yourself.

The more I heal, the more I want to help other people heal too.

I have learned that it is not about how many times you fall. It is about finding the strength to get back up one more time.

The gift of recovery has changed my life in ways I never thought were possible.

I have my grandson back in my life again, and for that, I could not be more grateful.

But recovery has given me more than relationships back.

It has given me myself back.

I still carry grief. I still carry guilt. I still carry memories that are hard to face.

But today, I also carry hope.

I am here. I am sober. I am growing.

And today, I believe in the woman I am becoming, one day at a time. 💜

05/18/2026

Worry can take so much from the day we are actually living.

So today, we’re choosing one small step back to the present.

One breath.
One honest moment.
One thing we can do right now.

That is enough for today.

05/14/2026

At Awaken Recovery Foundation, we believe healing looks different for everyone.

We encourage our residents to explore creative outlets such as writing, art, music, journaling, and other forms of self-expression that help build confidence, connection, and healing along the way. Sometimes those outlets become part of recovery. Sometimes they even become a new passion.

This week, we’re honored to share a poem written by one of our residents, Sarah. 💜

05/11/2026

Give yourself GRACE. 💜

05/07/2026

Art night, one of our favorite nights of the week. 🎨🖌️

05/04/2026

Maybe nothing about you is broken.

Maybe what you’ve carried just needed space, support, and time to be understood.

We’re not meant to hold everything on our own.
What we carry moves through us… and it can begin to heal in connection, too.

Light and shadow can exist in the same place.

For anyone who might need the reminder. ♥️ ~ Nanea

05/03/2026

"Woven Into and Through Each Other"

No one falls apart alone.

And the truth is…
no one heals alone either.

We tell ourselves our struggles are private.
That what we’re going through only affects us.

But that’s not how it works.

Our lives don’t stay contained.
They leak.

What we carry spreads into the people around us.
The tension, the silence, the chaos…

…but healing does too.

This one stays with you.

👉 Read the full blog: https://www.awakenrecovery.org/post/woven-into-and-through-each-other

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There is an old Celtic saying that "we are woven into and through each other." It sounds old-world and lyrical, the kind of thing that could end up on a nice greeting card or framed and hanging in a hallway next to a plant someone is trying very hard not to kill. But for all its poetry, it is also p...

04/30/2026

We are grateful to the Mid-Shore Community Foundation – Women & Girls Fund of the Mid-Shore for our 2026 grant award!

On Monday, we had the privilege of joining their donors and community for an afternoon of celebration and connection. It was a meaningful reminder of what is possible when a community comes together around a shared commitment to women's health and wellbeing.

This funding will expand our Wise Mind Nutrition platform, offering app-based coaching, group wellness workshops, and individualized health education to support women in recovery.

Thank you for believing in our mission to empower women to become mentors, leaders, and agents of change in our community.

🔗 Learn more about ARF: https://www.awakenrecovery.org

🔗 Learn more about WGF: https://www.womenandgirlsfund.org

04/29/2026

My name is Sandy M.

I’m a grateful recovering alcoholic, dually diagnosed with mental health and addiction. I’m originally from South Carolina, and I’ve lived in Maryland for the past 25 years.

I’ve faced many challenges during my recovery.

One of the biggest steps for me was finding a program that truly met my needs on a personal level. Thanks to my higher power and Awaken Recovery Foundation, I’ve been able to find a healthy balance in my life.

In early recovery, quite frankly, I needed all the help I could get.

There was a time when I realized I couldn’t keep living the same way. I truly believed something was wrong with me. I felt like I wasn’t capable of change.

But over time, through prayer, support, and staying committed to the process, things began to shift.

God made it possible through prayer and believing there is something bigger than me. I started to believe that change was possible for me. 🙏

Education was one of the biggest barriers I faced. I struggled with reading and left school in the ninth grade. For a long time, I didn’t think I could do it.

But through ARF, I learned how to set goals and follow through with them.

Earning my high school diploma was one of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever had. I never thought I would reach that point.

Since then, I’ve also earned a computer literacy certification and completed peer support training.

Today, I’m a certified peer recovery coach, and I’m one class away from becoming a certified peer recovery specialist.

Helping others has always been important to me.

Now, I get to live that out every day.

I attend support groups, stay connected through mentorship, and continue to grow in my recovery.

One of the biggest things I’ve gained is self-esteem. I see myself today as someone who is trustworthy, capable, and willing to do the next right thing.

I believe in myself now, and that has changed everything.

Helping others means I get to give back what was given to me. I see myself in the women I work with, and I’m able to see in them what they may not see in themselves yet.

My goal is to become a certified Med Tech. To me, that means being able to support others in a deeper way and help keep them safe and cared for.

If you are new to this process, I want to encourage you:

Take it one day at a time.
Be easy on yourself. Be kind to yourself.
Stay honest, open-minded, and willing.

Just do the next right thing, and the promises will come true, slowly but surely.

What kept me going on the hardest days was believing that if I stayed on this path, I would never have to go back to where I was.

Today, I’m proud of who I am becoming.

And I’m proud to be a trusted servant in this process.

04/27/2026

There is an old Celtic saying that we are woven into and through each other. It sounds poetic. But it is also plain truth.

Your healing does not stay inside you. It moves.
It changes the atmosphere of every room you walk into, every conversation you show up for, every moment you choose honesty over hiding.

The woman sitting quietly across from you in a meeting, she is watching. And your willingness to keep going is giving her something she didn't have before.

Hope travels. So does courage. So does the belief that something better is possible, even when you can barely believe it for yourself.

Recovery doesn't ask for perfection. It never did.

It asks for honesty.
Openness.
Willingness.

It asks you to follow the footsteps of those who have what you want, and to trust, even when trust feels like a foreign language, that the promises will come true.

Slowly but surely.

Thread by thread, a life can be rewoven.

What was damaged in relationship is healed in relationship.

What was frayed by dishonesty is mended by truth.

What was starved by isolation is restored by presence, patience, and love.

You are not too far gone. You are not too broken. You are a thread being rewoven into something whole.

Be easy on yourself today. Be kind to yourself. Just do the next right thing, and then the next one after that.

Happy Monday.

You are not alone. You are woven into something bigger than you know. 💜

04/24/2026

There are two versions of us that show up every day.

One says:
“I should be further along than this.”

The other says:
“But honestly… what did I expect?”

And somewhere in between, we get stuck.

Not because we don’t care.
Not because we aren’t capable.
But because we’re caught in a loop of pressure and doubt.

This week’s blog breaks down something we see all the time in recovery:

The voice that tries to prove something…
and the voice that expects things to fall apart.

Both feel real.
Neither moves us forward.

The shift isn’t big. It’s simple.
But it changes everything.

👉 Read the full blog here: https://www.awakenrecovery.org/blog

Still growing. Still healing. Still here.