CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — This month the Coastal Bend is reflecting on how addiction impacts families as part of national recovery month.
Survivors from 'The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse - Coastal Bend' are sharing their stories in hopes it will inspire someone to reach for help.
Jessica Corales is a recovery coordinator, at the nonprofit. For her, finding the perfect fit of support for recovery was found in her darkest hour.
"There's a lot of guilt, a lot of shame," Corales said. "It took me to a very, very dark place very, very fast."
Corales reflects on her early years as a child.
"I was raised pretty well, I guess you could say middle class," she said. "I did suffer sexual trauma at a very young age. And I think maybe that might have shaped the way for the disease of addiction to run rampant when I became an adult."
As Corales grew into adulthood, she resorted to alcohol and meth to cope with pain.
"I had to really look at the reality of my situation, and so when my probation officer would say, 'Hey, Mrs. James, all we need is one clean UA this Friday'," she said. "And by Tuesday, or Wednesday, I was using substances again. That definitely let me know I suffered from the disease of addiction."
Years later, Corales is now a recovery coach at The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse - Coastal Bend.
"Helping people put the puzzles of their life back together," she said.
Kimberly Wilson is also a recovery coach who overcame her own addictions.
"I started using at the age of 12, I had a broken family," Wilson said. "We had a lot of health issues, mental health issues. So it was always what I thought dabbling into, until it wasn't dabbling anymore."
After Wilson's first husband passed away, she used alcohol and drugs to cope. But she needed the support of others to help dig her out of the trench of addiction.
"My family supported me, but they did not understand," she said. "They can't understand. Unless they've walked in my shoes."
Moving forward in those shoes wasn't easy for Wilson.
"There's a sense of security in old, familiar pain," she said.
With the help of her own recovery coach, through Wilson's journey she found her support system was a perfect fit.
"This means more to me than anything else," she said. "It's not about the money. It's about the helping. The caring for another person whose been in that dark place that you can't get out of. Like I'm the ladder, just reach out. And I'll help pull you up."
To learn more information call The Council on Alcohol + Drug Abuse - Coastal Bend at this number: 361-854-9199.